Unplanned Alliance
by Projekt-Z
Summary: A hand is hired to help Kasumi evade her ever growing number of hunters, but complications lead to the wrong feelings. OCxAyane and OCxKasumi. Reviews are appreciated. Takes place During DOA:XBV, 4, and 5.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 – New Mission**

"Master Ryu, where has Master Hayate been? He's been away for a week and I haven't heard anything from him… Is everything okay?" Ayane asked and placed her hands onto her hips.

"I have yet to hear anything new young one, but I believe there is something waiting for you back home." Ryu instructed. Ayane heeded the warning, and beat a hasty retreat back to her village.

Once she entered the dojo, there was a small envelope addressed to her. It read:

"_Come to The Island. There will be held the next Dead or Alive Tournament, and you may even get to see the ones that you have been searching for! P. S. – A tickent is enclosed for the ride to the island."_

Ayane let out a small sigh, wondering if it was a trap of any sort. _"Master Hayate might know of this and may have decided to train alone to prepare for this… I'll just go alone and see for myself…"_

With this Ayane departed, swiftly and silently, only as she could, toward a ship.

On the roof of a 20 story tall building stood two figures, one male and the other female, at around midnight when the city below would be shining all forms of colored lights for all who visited to see. The male figure was a young man, around the age of twenty and he wore a white ninja Obi that bore blue lining near the sleeves and had two blades of different lengths on his back, and he wore his neck length hair in two parts to either side of his head. The female figure was around the same age, she was a few inches shy of six feet, very well developed and wore an all black business suit black heels and black thin rimmed glasses, and her hair was in a flared out ponytail.

"So, what brings a Mugen Tenshin Ninja to my organization?" The female asked, her arms were folded as she leaned on the door leading back into the building.

"I-it's… regarding a rather touchy topic, so I'll try to get to the main point." The young man stated as he started to glance over the bright lights of the city below.

"So who is involved and what do we need to do to them?" The woman stated and a less than interested tone, she had a history with the Mugen Tenshin that was less than stellar; after all she was one of their most talented ninja.

"I'm in need of assistance to track down a girl, Kasumi is her name and she has long flowing orange hair that she usually keeps in a loose ponytail." The young man stated with his head bowed in defeat.

"…And? What do you want done? An assassin job? Or maybe a capture?" The woman asked, still not caring about the man's troubles.

"N-no, just a simple rescue mission. I wish for you to find her and aid her in evading our ever hot on her trail ninja. She is very important to me and I realize that she risked her life to save me… That is all." The male stated trying to hide his sadness.

"…No…" The woman stated blankly and turned toward the door to return to the building.

"P-please, Ayame! I need to ensure her safety, but I can't do this myself… they'll kill both of us if they found out."

"…My name isn't Ayame… Not anymore. My name is Maria, and I'm not going to help you." Maria stated with her body facing the door.

"Please Aya – Maria… She's my sister…" The male was on one knee with his head bowed, and facing her.

Maria took a minute to think about the situation. Each passing second seemed to drag on forever as she considered all things. _"He did try to help me when they tried to kill me, and even provided me with an escape route… Hmmm… Zell's gonna be happy about this one…"_ Maria sighed slowly and finally said, "Fine, but I'll need a lead or someone to contact for the information to find Kasumi."

Hayate stayed on his knee and simply replied, "Thank You, Ayame."

Maria rolled her eyes and led Hayate into her office, which was the room that led to the roof. It appeared just as any traditional western style big business office for a boss or CEO. There was a finely crafted wooden desk stretched across the middle of the office that was decorated with pictures of a girl who possessed an all black sleeveless Oubi that stopped before her stomach, revealing her fine sculpted belly, and fitted ninja pants that were tied down at the shin and black socks in thin black flip flop type sandals, and in the pictures was a younger Hayate as well. Hayate took a quick glance at the pictures as he passed by to get to the opposite side of the desk, once there he stood with both arms behind his back.

"So, it's your little sister. She's the one you wish to protect, but who knows the most about her location? How do we find this person and what have you been trying to do?" Maria asked as she sat attentively at her desk, revealing her almond brown eyes, which could melt almost any man's heart with just a quick glance.

"…Well, I have one kunoichi who is very hot on her trail, named Ayane. She has purple hair and pink eyes. She is the leader of the Haijin Mon Sect of the clan. She wears a purple Oubi with the mask of Genra on her hip. That is all I can entail." Hayate explained quickly but sternly.

"Very well… I shall deploy one of my best agents. Farewell." Maria stated finally as Hayate disappeared into a small whirlwind that brushed her bangs from over her face.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Maria called a boy to her office. They boy was two inches away from being six feet, he was a fairly bronzed being with a slim build but had muscle tone as well as fiery red hair and eight bangs, four on both sides of his face and red eyes to match, on his neck was a jagged zero with arrows on the edges, a memento from his deceased grandmother. He was one of her subordinates, but the only one who she was particularly close to.<p>

"What's the problem? S-superior?" The boy asked upon his entrance into Maria's office, surprised to see her in a ninja uniform; it was the same one from the pictures on her desk, only it was fixed to her taller figure.

"Zell, this is my old ninja uniform." Maria smiled as she removed the glasses from her face as she turned to face Zell.

"That's great, but what did you call me for?" Zell asked, only half attracted to Maria's new look.

"I have a mission stack for you." Maria replied with a smirk.

"Good, now I can test out some of my new gear. I was in the lab all day for a week trying to make these properly." Zell gestured toward his shoes, which flickered with neon red lights at the heels.

"Glad to see you're excited. Now here are the four missions: Reconnaissance - Go to a place called Zack Island and see if the owner of the place has any information on DoATEC or Donovan; Search and Rescue – There's a girl, a kunoichi, to be precise, who is being hunted. Her name is Kasumi, and by an anonymous lead you may have to track down another kunoichi whose name is Ayane, to find her. But you must remain in undercover mode, but do all you'll need to do to gather information. Search and Destroy – Other intelligence has informed me of a new project that DoA TEC may be working on. You'll need to enter the next Dead or Alive Tournament and Destroy the Alpha-152; however, there may be more than one, up to seven models of this menace. It is believed that this thing can level an entire city single-handedly. Finally, the last and most important mission – Assassination – Kill Helena and Donovan, but make sure you kill her after Donovan is killed, and destroy DoATEC's headquarters as well." Maria stated firmly.

"So this mission will start a Zack Island, then go on to find Kasumi, with the help of Ayane; then enter the next Dead or Alive tournament to destroy the Alpha-152s and kill Donovan and Helena. But what am I trying to save this… Kasumi chick from exactly?" Zell mapped the entire mission out by plan – It wasn't going to fail.

"She's being hunted by ninja. Also, Donovan won't be easy to kill. He has a group of children that have been altered like you have been, except they all have different animals that seem to have something to do with the zodiac." Maria stated, a warning was to be taken from this.

"…Okay, I got it; Zell, moving out." Zell replied and saluted to The Superior, she returned his salute and he departed to his laboratory to retrieve a gunblade, a sword, a katana, a gunkatana, and a hover board.

Zell retrieved the coordinates for Zack Island from The Superior, Maria, then rode his hover board toward an Island that was a Resort Island, but was never placed on any mapwhich seemed strange to him.

* * *

><p>At Zack Island, Zell was accompanied by a woman who looked to be about 21 years old and was a darker tone than he was, and she had brown hair and a very outgoing personality. The two of them were in an office and standing before a very dark skinned man who bore sunglasses and a blonde Mohawk, and beside him was a girl who was slightly lighter in skin tone and had platinum blonde hair.<p>

"So you two are going to be the tour guides, as well as vacationers, eh?" The man asked and placed a finger on his chin in a thoughtful manner.

"Yes sir!" Both Zell and the other woman replied simultaneously.

"So, Niki, do you think they are it?" The man asked the girl perched onto his lap.

"Ooh, Yes Zackie-poo! Especially him! He's definitely going to attract some company!" The platinum blonde, Niki, responded.

"Then you two grab a suit from here…" The bald man, Zack stated then a giant wardrobe of suits came slowly toward the room. "Feel free to mix pieces too."

"Good." Zell stated darkly, and then entered the new room, and the other applicant followed him in.

Zell grabbed a pair of black pressed pants that had a clear crease in them, and then he found a vest that was black and a shirt that was red, and a red fedora hat with a black strap. The female applicant found a normal black suit and chose to wear that.

"Now you two, go examine the Island. Tomorrow is when the others will arrive." Zack instructed then departed with Niki in his arms.

"So, what's your name guy?" The woman asked as she walked beside Zell toward a pair of cottages that lie in between the forests and beaches.

"Name's Zell." Zell replied nonchalantly, not even paying attention to the girl to his left.

"I'm Lisa! Nice to meet ya!" The girl introduced herself with a big smile.

"…Likewise… I guess." Zell stated with a shrug then entered a cottage, and Lisa entered the other.

"…I'll probably enjoy this…" Zell sighed as he lay upon the soft be of the cottage and stared up at the celing.

After a few moments, Zell sat up and made his way toward the dresser in the cottage and changed into a fitted short sleeved T-shirt, ad a pair of tong swimming trunks that were black with the symbol of the jagged zero that he wore around his neck. Just as he began to check to make sure everything was in place someone knocked on the door. It was Lisa.

"Hiya Zell! You wanna check out the Island with me? We'll have all day together!" Lisa hopped for a second then grabbed Zell's arm and dragged him along.

"Where are you taking me? C'mon, let go!" Zell grumbles and frees himself from Lisa's grip.

"Aw, don't be such a worry wart! We won't get into trouble! We have to get ready for tomorrow any how! So let's go!" Lisa demanded.

"I'm not worrying. I just wanna do this on my own time." Zell sighed, rubbed his forehead and started toward the beach.

"Well, I-I'll be doing the same!" Lisa called out and chased after Zell toward the sunset, and began to gather information for their individual shifts for the day to come.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Bonding Time**

"Takashi! Wake up! Get off your ass! You've got mail!" Daichi blared and slapped a boy who had black hair that spiked downward. The boy, Takashi had a slight muscular build.

"…Argh, Daichi… What the hell!" Takashi yelled and shot up from the bed and hurled his glasses wearing friend off of his bed, and he crashed into the wall nearby; Takashi opened his eyes sleepily and revealed his strange yellow colored eyes.

"Damn Taka! You just got an invite, it looked kinda important, so I thought I was okay to wake you…" Daichi sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry dude. I didn't do it on purpose…" Takashi sighed and got out of the bed to help his friend.

"This is an invite to meet the DoA fighters on a remote island. Did you enter a contest or something? Oh well, never mind... I bet Tina will be there!" Daichi stated playfully as he started down the stairs with the note still in his hands.

"Tina! Seriously! Give it here Daichi!" Takashi yelled, now fully awake and excited to meet one of the girls of his dreams.

"You'll have to come and get it!" Daichi retorted playfully as he glided down the stair rail that led to the main floor of Takashi's home.

"You get back here with that! You know I wanna meet Tina!" Takashi yelled, then tripped and fell down the stairs after Daichi.

"Ha ha! You can't do anything right when you even hear her name! I wonder if you'll collapse if she even waved your way…" Daichi stopped near the doorway that led into the kitchen and placed the invitation on the stand nearby, and got onto his knees in front of a miniature shrine that was decorated with flowers surrounding two pictures, one of Takashi's mother, and the other of his brother, Tarou.

When Takashi finally got to Daichi, he didn't do anything. They were good friends and Takashi saw Daichi as something of an overly playful little brother, who was smart only when it mattered the most, so he grabbed Daichi by the neck and pulled Dauchi into his pit and began ruffling his hair violently.

"Ugh, you're such a big brother! Lemme go, dude!" Daichi called as he flailed around, feebly attempting to break free of Takashi's hold.

"Alright, alright… Now where'd you put that invitation?" Takashi glanced around and spotted the envelope on the table and read it to himself.

"…So what's it say?" Daichi asked while ruffling his hair to get it back to the way it was.

"It says that I'm invited to a vacation on "Zack Island"… Hmmm…" Takashi became entranced in his thoughts and tried to determine if it was a scam or not.

"So are you gonna go?" Daichi asked with his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Yeah. But if it's a setup, I can defend myself." Takashi replied and walked into his kitchen and made himself a small and quick breakfast which consisted of a small scrambled egg and a soda.

"Well, good luck, bro. Make sure you get an autograph for me!" Daichi called from the living room, he was getting his things to go to his mother's house.

"Sure, sure, see ya later lil' bro." Takashi called back then returned to his meal.

"You can't keep me here! I'm going out!" A busty and well built blonde woman blared out of a door in an American southern home. She slammed the door and caused the house to shake violently.

"Tina! Get your ass back here! I'm not done with you!" A hulking mad in a biker gang outfit blared from the doorway.

"You are now, daddy!" Tina retorted with a raspberry.

She grumbled and pouted as she stomped her way to a red Mercedes and chucked her bags into the back seat of the vehicle and skidded off to a cafe in on the east side of town.

"So Tina, you want the usual?" A female asked as Tina entered the cafe.

"Yeah, Rio… Get me the usual, but add extra cream this time…" Tina sighed and brought her index fingers to her temples and massaged them gently.

The girl named Rio had short pink hair, green eyes, a curvy figure and a large bust that was a few centimeters short of matching the bust of Tina. Rio was wearing a black outfit that showed certain parts of her figure, including the crack of her chest. She slid a medium sized glass with a frothy and heavily chilled coffee inside and Tina caught the glass so smoothly, it was as though she had been doing that sort of thing all her life.

"Thanks Rio. I owe ya one." Tina sighed and her sapphire blue eyes, that were usually full of energy and determination, were filled with sadness and frustration. A few guys caught wind of this and quickly went to her side to try to quell the feeling from her.

"Here baby. I bet this is just what you need." A punk biker looking guy stated as he took a seat near the model, actress, wrestler, and singer; he was holding an invitation to an Island where the next Dead or Alive tournament was "supposed" to be held.

"Thanks hun, Here's a little something for ya troubles." Tina took the envelope and opened it to find a ticket to a place called "Zack Island, then she gave the punk biker a $100 bill then continued to sip on her iced coffee. _"I think I'll go and take this little trip to this island… I need the peace anyway."_ Tina thought as she finished the rest of her frosty beverage.

"Hey, Zack Island? I'll be working there starting tomorrow! I'll see you there, won't I?" Rio stated with a big smile and a gleam in her large green eyes.

"Yeah, you'll be seeing me soon." Tina smiled and left Rio a big tip as she departed to the docks where the boat was to come and dock to do a quick analysis of where the location was.

Takashi looked around on the boat and noticed that everyone on the ship was female, and on top of that he realized that they, mostly, were participants in the third Dead or Alive tournament, but one caught his eye from the start.

"N-no way! It's Tina!" Takashi almost squealed like a girl, but caught himself. _"If Daichi were here, I'd lose so many man points from that one slip up… He'd never let me live it down…"_ Takashi quickly regained his composure, then sat near Tina to try to get an autograph.

"Um, excuse me… M-Ms. Armstrong?" Takashi began nervously, but continued once he found he had her attention.

"…Well, well, lookie here. Are you a fan of mine hun?" Tina asked and removed her shades, revealing her beautiful sapphire eyes, full of interest in Takashi.

"Yeah, a big fan. I've never missed any of your matches in the ring, or in the tournaments. C-can I get an autograph?" Takashi asked, trying to keep his composure.

"Sure, ya got a pen?" Tina stated with a smile on her face.

"One right here. Can you sign this page here?" Takashi replied as he broke out the pen and a magazine with the first tournament's victor, Kasumi. Takashi flipped through the magazine to a page that had a picture of Tina slamming her father, Bass onto the cement outside of a casino.

"That was a great picture. I wonder when they took it." Tina stated as she glanced at the picture before readying the pen to sign. "So who's this for?" Tina asked and batted the tip of the pen with her tongue.

"T-Takashi Kaido…" Takashi stammered and blushed a bit when Tina leaned on his lap to sign the page.

"There ya go! See you on the Island, Takashi." Tina said softly as she stood up and walked away. Takashi thought he saw Tina wink at him when she turned to look back.

"_This is going to rule! I can't wait to see if Kasumi's here… Oh boy, Daichi's going to freak when he hears about this!"_ Takashi thought to himself, his excitement was almost visible.

Takashi stood from his seat and glanced around and found a young female with long orange hair in a ponytail. The girl was sitting next to another girl who appeared to be a year younger than her, but had a much larger bust, and short purple hair.

"Oh, crap! That's Ayane, but what's Kasumi doing sitting next to her? I thought she was supposed to be hunting Kasumi…" Takashi sat in his seat for a few more minutes and took a deep breath and the conversation was fully comprehensible from his seat near the front of the ship.

"So, here's the deal… I won't try to kill you while we're here. I'm trying to find Master Hayate. I heard that he's on this island that we're going to." Takashi recognized that voice as Ayane's due to the tone she possessed.

"Fine, but I am also searching for my brother as well. So what do we do if we find him?" Takashi assumed this was Kasumi, due to the soft and gentle tone she spoke in.

"Well, just ask Master Hayate what to do next." Ayane stated dully.

'…And what if he isn't here?" Kasumi asked, slightly upset at the probability that her brother wasn't going to be around.

"You can parade around like a goody two shoes like you always did, and I'll enjoy my peace away from the bastards back at the village." Ayane snapped with silent death eminent in her tone.

"Okay… I guess…" Kasumi replied, somewhat hurt by her younger sibling's words.

"_Good. They're done talking, now for me to get Kasumi to sign my magazine…"_ Takashi thought and stood up and bumped into Kasumi and onto a nearby chair.

"I-I'm so sorry! It was an accident! Are you okay?" Takashi stammered quickly, afraid that Kasumi would unleash some crazy ninja move on him and tear one of his arms off.

Kasumi giggled and dusted herself off, "It's fine. There was no harm done."

Takashi sighed and held the magazine out toward her, "So, can you sign my magazine?" A small smile appeared on the boy's face.

"Sure. So who am I addressing this to?" Kasumi smiled and took the pen and Magazine from Takashi.

"Kaido, um, Takashi Kaido." Takashi replied, a small hint of nervousness was apparent and Kasumi giggled once again.

"Here you go Takashi…" Kasumi took a look into Takashi's eyes and noticed something strange in them, then her eyes widened.

"_His eyes are hallowed, like something is being suppressed within him. There's also a familiar power within him… Maybe Ayane knows what it is…"_ Kasumi thought and grabbed Takashi's hand.

"What's the matter Kasumi?" Takashi asked and turned around to see what was on the kunoichi's mind, although he didn't care because she was holding his hand.

"Please come with me for a moment." Kasumi stated softly and dragged Takashi back to Ayane's seat.

"Kasumi, what're you-?" Ayane began, but was cut short by the sudden burst of familiar energy.

"What the hell? What are you trying to do Kasumi?" Ayane snapped and threw her magzine onto the floor.

"…So you sensed it too?" Kasumi stated and dropped her head like a child in trouble.

"We'll discuss this off of the boat." Ayane stated and pushed the two out of her way and headed toward the port of the ship.

"Still as sour as ever, I see." Takashi grumbled. Kasumi smirked a little at the remark that Takashi unconsciously said and she sat back down and began to talk with the Kaido boy.

The following day was the day the ship was to report to Zack Island and Zell's and Lisa's jobs were to begin.

"Well, today's the day." Zell sighed and crossed his arms. He was in the suit he'd gotten from Zack the day prior, and the hat was over his eyes, giving him a mysterious vibe.

"Yeah, so make sure you do your best, okay?" Lisa smiled and cocked her head at a 30 degree angle and back to normal, she was excited and it was very apparent by her actions.

"So what's the plan for our groups?" Zell asked dully, with his arms tucked behind his head as he leaned on a palm tree. He didn't really care about what exactly was going to happen at that very moment.

"Well, I've heard that there was going to be at least ten people here… So maybe we should each get five people to tour?" Lisa suggested, and surprisingly it wasn't a dumb idea.

"Yeah, that's a good plan. Let's do that." Zell stated and gave Lisa an approving look, then he started a bit toward the docks.

"I'm not as dumb as you might think..." Lisa smiled and watched Zell.

"...After all, I was the one who tipped DoATEC off to the idea of splicing genes of animals and humans..." Lisa mumbled darkly but dashed ahead of Zell before he could say anything to her.

Lisa reached the dock before Zell did and waved him over. Zell sighed and went to her side.

"We're going to have such a good time here…!" Lisa was teeming with excitement, while Zell was looking as careless as he did before.

"Yeah, yeah… Let's just get this over with." Zell yawned and crossed his arms and stood straight while the newcomers were boarding the Island.

Kasumi, Ayane, Tina, Hitomi, Helena, Leifang, Christie, Kokoro, Rio and Takashi all got off the boats and headed toward the two tour guides.

"Okay ladies, and guy! I'm Lisa and this is…" Lisa began the introductions and Zell finished as coolly as possible.

"Zell. And we'll be your guides for today and we'll be around if you need anything. Also there'll be events taking place during some nights and some days, so make sure you all are prepared to have a load of fun!" Zell stated with a devilishly handsome fang induced smirk and caught the curious looks of Ayane and Christie.

"Now if five of you can go with Zell and the remaining please come with me." Lisa instructed with a bright smile.

Ayane, Christie, Helena, Kasumi, and Leifang went with Zell, while Tina, Takashi, Kokoro, Hitomi and Rio went with Lisa.

Zell took his group and went to the Gemstone Hotel and turned to the girls.

"Well, you all have a room here. I will stop by every night to check up on you all and give you a report on the schedule for the next day… unless any one doesn't want me to, and if you don't then please tell me now." Zell stated and turned to the girls and eyed Ayane near the end of his statement. _"She must be the one I need to talk to about the hunted kunoichi…"_ Zell thought and eased away from her eyes and smiled and shown his fangs once again.

"…So I guess that means that I'll be stopping by tonight to let you all know what will go on tomorrow. So let us continue." Zell added after a brief silence and motioned for the girls to follow him to a huge pool that was shaped like a pear, except it was 200 ft from one side to the other.

"Whoa! That's a big pool!" Leifang noted and Zell smirked at her enthusiasm.

"Heh, well you can return here after the tour. The pool's open until 10:00PM. Shall we continue?" Zell replied with some kindness.

The next stop for the group was Niki Beach. "This is Niki Beach, named after the owner's girlfriend and co-founder, Niki. It's a great place for watching sunsets in the evening, as well as playing volleyball." Zell stated as Kasumi and Leifang ran to see what the beach had to offer. The beach had soft warm sand and some umbrella tables and wooden chairs with them.

"I'll check this place out later…" Ayane stated lowly, to herself more than anyone in particular, but Zell caught wind of the plan and made a note to come back later.

"Hmm, not a bad place to think." Christie noted softly, in the same manner as Ayane.

"Okay, our next stop will be the more subtly named "Tranquil Beach". It's a beach that is more secluded than that of Niki Beach, and allows for a considerably larger amount of quiet than Niki Beach as well." Zell resumed the tour and led the girls to the Tranquil Beach. It was farther out and had a plethora of palm tees and a nice view of the water through the unique boulder structures that stood out from the water.

"Nice natural landscaping. I like this spot." Leifang stated with a smile and her hands placed together as if she were clapping.

"Hmm, not a bad idea to stop by here either." Ayane noted, and again Zell heard her and mentally noted this as well.

"Now, onto the next spot, The Jungle. This is a peaceful spot with many trees and spots of sunlight at high noon, which is the prime time to relax here. Volleyball is also great to play here." Zell stated as he guided the girls through the area and onward to the next stop.

"This is Bass Island. The island only appears during the daytime and wondrous coral reefs are seen in the waters of the morning and evening." Zell explained and continued past the shops.

"Next up are the shops. At the accessory shop, you can buy many accessories. At the sport shop, you can buy various swimsuits and volleyballs, and this is where Lisa will be working. Lastly, there is the Zack of all trades shop, where I'll be working. I'll be selling many different items and I will even be serving as a chef, making treats and drinks for you all, should you need them." Zell concluded and led the girls back to the pool, where they started and turned toward the group of girls and finally said, "Any questions?"

"Yeah, when is the Dead or Alive tournament going to take place?" Ayane asked bluntly and got into Zell's face.

"Well, that is not of my knowledge, so you'll have to ask Zack. He's the owner." Zell retorted and got into Ayane's face and she took a step back.

"F-fine, so when are you returning to the Zack of all trades shop. I'm hungry." Ayane replied and stunned Zell.

"Ah, right! I'll be going now. You all know where to find me." Zell stated and left to go back to his station at the Zack of all trades Shop.

"_So that's what my palms look like… I remember now… Wait a sec! I left my gloves! There's going to be a full moon tonight…"_ Zell thought as he sat very blankly for a few minutes at the Zack shop, then he wired in to Maria and asked her to bring his special gloves.

"You forgot them?" Maria asked across the communication line.

"Yeah, but they should be on your desk. I left them when I went to get my weapons. It's just a minor setback, but won't be as bad as I fear if you please hurry." Zell almost pleaded into the ear communicator.

"I'll be there by midnight, so don't go and try to kill any one okay?" Maria joked and ended the transmission.

Zell sighed and turned to find Ayane standing with her arms folded, obviously waiting for Zell to service her.

"Ah! So what'll you be having?" Zell asked, slightly surprised by the kunoichi.

"I'll have an Ice cream cone, caramel syrup on top and add some chopped chestnuts, if you have any." Ayane stated coldly, hiding every hint of her interest in the fire headed boy.

"Got it. Hold on a second." Zell smirked and turned to the Ice cream machine and turned it on and spun the waffle cone in a 1080 degree circle then shut off the Ice cream machine and pulled a small bottle of carmel out and swirled the syrup onto the top of the ice cream then sprinkled the minced chestnuts over the syrup.

"Here you go." Zell smirked and handed the kunoichi her ice cream.

Ayane took the ice cream and glanced at it curiously and then turned to Zell and cocked an eyebrow then looked at the cone and licked it slightly and was suddenly astounded by the sweet taste of all three items coinciding perfectly. She was sure he'd had done somethig to it, but she wasn't sure how. She had been staring at him the entire time. She licked the ice cream again and let out a very satisfied sigh, which caused Zell to smirk.

"So you like it?" Zell asked and raised an eyebrow to the purple haired kunoichi.

"Well, it isn't bad. Is there a Dojo of any sort here? I still need to keep myself in top form while here." Ayane replied.

"There's a Dojo in the basement of the hotel, but it won't be open until the evening." Zell answered, then proceeded to his next inquiry.

"So what's your name?" Zell asked as casually as he could.

"Ayane, but don't think anything of this little talk." Ayane stated, her tone was that of annoyed child, which seemed to attract Zell's interest even more.

_"So she's Ayane... I doubt that the Superior knows her... it's time to execute my data acquizition... See if this Zack guy knows anything..." _Zell thought to himself, then made his way to Zack's big gaudy mansion.

Kasumi changed into a swimsuit that consisted of a two piece halter top and regular panties, and the swimsuit was white with strawberries. Ayane wore a swimsuit that consisted of two pieces as well and was halter style but was more required to have both pieces tied, the seams on both peices were black and it was a dark gray color, and had light purple butterflies on it. The two were in the jungle that had been shown to them a few hours prior.

"Ayane, there is something I must ask you while we're here..." Kasumi began reluctantly. She was somewhat afraid of her more hostile younger half sibling.

"What do you want? It had better be about something important." Ayane snapped back in a low tone as she sat atop a tree shaped like an "F".

"It's about that Takashi guy... He gave off a familiar energy... Did you recognize it?" Kasumi asked, she sat under the same tree that Ayane was in.

"Yeah, I did recognize it, but where did I know the aura from...? I know it, and I'm sure you do too." Ayane replied and stared down at Kasumi as if her face held the answer to their questions.

"Is he related to the Phoenix that we heard stories about as children?" Kasumi placed her pointer finger on her chin and gazed up toward the sky.

"Tch, like that's even possible. You and I both know those stories were just legends. The Phoenix of the Mugen Tenshin was before our time, just like the Shadow of the Mugen Tenshin was." Ayane scoffed at the idea and leaned in the tree enough to hang herself upside down.

"The legends are true... Haven't you been inside the Sacred Shrine before?" Kasumi asked, oblivious of what was to come from Ayane.

"Are you stupid! I'm not allowed to think about that place! Remember, Because of my cursed birth I get treated like shit all of the time!" Ayane snapped and dropped from the tree and landed softly on her feet, then the soft tone of a flute could be heard in the distance as the two kunoichi stood in silence.

It was Zell, he had just learned how to play a flute and was certain that no one was in the jungle to hear him play.

"Great, someone was listening in on us." Ayane mumbled and got into her stance, she was always on edge due to her messed up past and variety of stealth missions.

Zell was on the other side of the jungle and stopped his practice as soon as he heard the trees rustling in the distance. He was dressed in a red T-shirt that showed off some of his fairly built body, and long black shorts that went past his knees but stopped before his shins.

_"An assassin? The superior never told me about this... Maybe it's one of the alphas? But they were supposed to be revealed at the end of the tournament... It's gotta be... a trap...?"_ Zell thought to himself and slowly and quietly spawned his gunblade. The weapon possessed a handgun's grip and body, but attatched to it's mouth was also a red blade of condensed aura and a strange metal that moved as if it were fire. This weapon was known as the FireBolt Gunblade. Zell moved slowly to the ruslting bush and eased around it to find the two kunoichi, battle ready and about to pounce on him.

Zell gasped at first, but then he mumbled "Time out." and froze time and looked at the two ninja suspended in mid air. He took his time and moved away from what would have been a messy first night, as his time in the Zack Manor rattled him a bit. The last thing he needed was to almost get raped, then attacked in the same day. He resumed normal time and was in the tree Ayane just dropped from and he was looking at the orange skyline begin to turn purple. _"I hope the superior gets here before the full moon hits the peak..."_ then he turned to see the red headed kunoichi glance up at him, and drop her stance.

"What were you doing out here?" Zell asked and broke the silence that fell upon the group.

"We could ask you that same question." Ayane stated coldly and turned to face away from the fire haired male.

"Well, I was trying to find a quiet place. I'm one of the tour guides. I'm sure the violet beauty over here knows that, anyway, I was just trying to practice the flute." Zell explained and gestured toward Ayane when he spoke the second statement.

"...So that music just now, that was you?" Kasumi asked and smiled a tiny bit.

"...Yeah, but it sucked didn't it?" Zell sighed and sat himself down on the tree branch and stared at the grass.

"Play some more, willya?" Ayane asked and placed her hand on her waist.

"...Don't blame me if you go deaf..." Zell sighed and brought the silver shimmering flute back to his lips and he began to play _Sheena's Theme_ From "Tales of Symphonia".

The song seemed to hit a nerve in Ayane's mind, as she smiled and felt the soothing familiarity of the melody. "That was nice. What's it called?" Ayane asked and sat at the trunk of the tree.

"The Violet Kunoichi." Zell stated as he finished the song.

"I liked it. Thanks for the mini concert." Ayane smiled again and began to hum the tune softly.

"You're welcome. Now would you mind telling me your name?" Zell replied and smoothly slid from the tree branch and turned his attention to Kasumi.

"I'm Kasumi, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Kasumi stated softly as she always did.

Zell grabbed each kunoichi's hand and held it in his and kissed the back of them both and noted the soft feel of their skin, then said, "The pleasure is all mine." and caused both girls to blush slightly, but Ayane blushed more. she felt a strange familiar feeling when Zell was around.

Zell smiled a bit and noticed that Ayane was in a better mood than in their first meeting. So he approached her and took her a bit away from Kasumi.

"You played really well." Ayane smiled a tiny bit and shifted a little more. She was not used to being this close to someone without killing them, and Zell seemed aware of the urges she was feeling, as he stepped back a bit.

Zell smiled, "I'm glad you liked it. Do you mind meeting me for an Ice cream later? It'll be my treat." Zell asked softly and remembered that he was waiting for an item to come.

"Hmm..." Ayane stood and began to sthink what this could have meant, but had no idea what was really in store for her.

_"...I still need The Superior to bring the gloves! I hope she makes it before it's too late... and did I seriously just ask a girl I just met to go on a date with me! I have got to think more about what I say... I kinda hope she says yes though..." _Zell thought and smiled softly, granting as much innocence as a wolf kid could as he awaited Ayane's reply.

"Sure, I'll give it a shot." Ayane replied and waved to Zell as she turned to leave wih Kasumi. He smiled as she walked into the trees and left the area, leaving Zell to his own thoughts.

Kasumi and Ayane went to the pool and spotted Takashi relaxing a little. Takashi was staring at the sunset, he was dressed in a white T-shirt that bore an emblem of a flaming hawk on the left, under the shoulder, near where the heart would be; his trunks were grey and they had the japanese kanji for "rebirth" on the right leg. Kasumi approached the distracted boy at the table he was sitting at. Ayane left and went inside the Gemstone hotel and decided to take a bath then go to the dojo and practice her moves.

"Hi Takashi." Kasumi said softly, startling the bird boy and almost making him fall from his chair.

"K-Kasumi, you should warn a person before you just appear like that..." Takashi replied while trying to regain his balance.

"I'm sorry Takashi. I though you already saw me coming." Kasumi giggled as Takashi lost his balance and began to fall back.

As he fell, Kasumi reappeared behind him and saved him from nearly cracking his skull on the marble of the pool side. She helped him back to his seat and they two were greeted by a waiter and in the waiter's hand was a plate and on the plate was a strawberry milkshake, and a pair of straws.

"For the two of you." The waiter stated and walked away as fast as he had appeared.

Kasumi said nothing, as did Takashi. They both inserted a straw into the cold dessert and sipped it togther, both smiling all the while. Takashi sighed as they finished the last bits of the drink, and Kasumi giggled.

"What's so funny Kasumi?" Takashi asked, surprised to see Kasumi so happy after one beverage.

"I'm glad I got to share that drink with you, but more importantly I wish to ask about your parents." Kasumi's soft smile faded as she spoke, fully aware that Takashi didn't enjoy speaking of his past. Their earlier conversation had shown her that.

"...Well, I'll just say that my father was a performer, for a little while... that is, until he met my mother." Takashi began solemnly and stared at the empty cup in front of him.

"What did your father do?" Kasumi asked and eased closer to Takashi.

"He was very proficient in pyrotechhnics, according to my brother." Takashi stated, unaware that Kasumi was getting closer to him.

"Did he have a stage name, or any titles that he went by?" Kasumi continued to get closer but proceeded slowly.

"He did have one. I think it was "Phoenix", or something like that." Takashi shrugged and let out a yawn.

_"...So, it may be that he is oblivious to his lineage... I do wonder what became of his brother though..."_ Kasumi thought to herself, trying to put pieces together.

"I'm glad you decided to talk to me after all, Takashi. Good night." Kasumi stopped and stood to go into the hotel. Takashi drowsily followed and retired into his room.

Zell sighed as he stood before Ayane's door. He checked his watch and found that it was 11:00PM. He felt fine, so he proceeded to knock on her door.

_"It'll be fine. The Superior will help me out. I hardly ever ask for her help anyway, so this should end up being a small 'you owe me' type deal. No problem, right?... Then why do I feel like this will kill me..."_ Zell dropped his head after he knocked on the door, he had a bad feeling and whenever he had this feeling, it was never wrong.

Ayane opened the door and Zell was greeted by her busty figure being revealed with a blouse that extended to her knees, but the top of the blouse was very snug. The blouse was black satin and had purple outlines of butterflies on it. Zell smilied and turned his head a little to hide his expression. Ayane smirked knowing what she had done.

"Is this what you'll be wearing? It gets cold out here at night, y'know." Zell asked kindly. He was wearing a jacket over his body, but he was never cold.

"I'm sure you'll get me something, should I feel chilly." Ayane remaked back and stepped out of her room with some sandals on.

Zell smirked and flicked his nose casually then offered his hand to Ayane. She took his hand and they went to a certain part of the forest where the moon was visible and the ocean reflected the moonlight perfectly and a small tree was in the midst of all the greenery. Zell lead Ayane to the tree.

"You won't need to try and help me up there. I know what you're trying to pull, but it won't work. I'm wearing shorts underneath this." Ayane folded her arms and glared at Zell for a brief second as he leapt onto the branches of the tree, then she jumped onto it and landed effortlessly and sat near the wolf boy.

"You said we were going to have ice cream, so where is it?" Ayane asked, her tone expressed impatience.

"It's right here, I made them the same way you ordered earlier, so you should like it, right?" Zell stated and pulled out a bag with two boxes, each had a carefully prepared ice cream cone inside.

Zell gave one to Ayane, and had one for himself. Ayane licked the ice cream and felt a calmness that she wasn't familiar with, however, she felt the same way whem she was around Hayate. Zell simply sighed and placed his free hand behind his head and leaned back onto the tree while Ayane continued to lick the ice cream.

"So Ayane, I want to ask you something." Zell stated as he looked at the moon.

"What is it? I'll answer depending on what it is you want to know." Ayane replied cooly and continued on her ice cream.

"I want to know what your childhood was like. Would you describe it in a few words for me?" Zell asked and took a small chunk of his ice cream and gulped it down with ease.

"Hmm... In three words? I guess it would be difficult, hardening, and strange." Ayane stated with a pained expression on her face. She was glad that Zell wasn't that close to see her face. She had tears in her eyes that she ws always able to control, but for some reason, she couldn't right now.

"Hmm... Well I certainly know how difficult childhood can be." Zell stated with a sigh, then he turned toward the slowly melting cone in his hand and gave it a long lick to stop it from melting all over his hand.

"What do you mean?" Ayane sniffed and wiped her eyes with her free hand, all the while she was still facing away from Zell. She didn't want him to see weakness in her, after all, no one else would have ever seen her cry, not Hayate and definately not Kasumi.

"Well I was abandoned, then I lost my grandmother, then... never mind." Zell caught himself, stopping before he went into too many details. It would further compromise his mission if he slipped up again.

"I know what the feeling of being abandoned is like..." Ayane stated softly and began to start to eat the cone.

"It's never a good feeling." Zell sighed and threw the rest of his cone into his mouth, then asked, "Well... H-have you ever lost someone dear to you?"

"My master... His name was Genra. He got possessed and was killed..." Ayane sighed once again, and her tears streamed down her face, she was letting herself become vulnerable, but for some reason she didn't try to stop it.

"How'd he get possessed?" Zell asked, then he noticed that the moon was reaching the peak. It was almost midnight.

"He was taken by an oganization called DoATEC, and was experimented on... The when he attacked, it was my duty to put him down. He was my foster father, and the only adult at the time to care about me." Ayane let herslef cry. There was no hiding it. She missed her father and moreso, there was something about Zell that made her comfortable in his presence, it was more than what Hayate could do for her.

Zell gasped at the mentioning of DoATEC, but went to Ayane's side when she began to cry. He saw a tear stream down her face, reflected in the moonlight. He held her in his arms and allowed her to cry, and at the same time he let tears fall from his own eyes.

"Z-Zell...?" Ayane called softly through choked sobs, and caught the attention of the wolf.

"What is it, Ayane?" Zell replied softly in her ear.

"Please do me a favor and never tell anyone that I cried..." Ayane requested, he tone was more normal and getting to the point of anger.

"... I... promise..." Zell strained himself to say, then he realized what ws happening to him. It was the peak of midnight and his wolf side was waiting for him to slip up.

Ayane quickly jumped away from the boy, sensing a crazy power from within him, and the feelings that she felt when she had to battle her father, Genra, had returned. She landed twenty feet away from the tree and summoned her dual sided aura blade and held it at the ready._ "I can't believe this! I actually started to trust this freak and this is what happens! Man, I'll kill every one who tries to win my trust at this rate..." _Ayane grimaced and forced the feelings of compassion from her mind and steeled herseflf for the fight, but before Zell's wolf ears and claws were exposed, there was another female figure that joined the party.

_"Looks like I just made it. But he still will have to take a beating. This thing was supressed for years... Who knows how much power he has built up..."_ Maria thought as she placed the gloves on Zell's still human hands.

"Th-Thank you... Superior..." Zell managed in something similar to a growl as his tail curled out in a red flame and he began to double over.

"Don't thank me yet. We'll still have to knock you out... or even kill you..." Mariastated solemnly then jumped from the tree and landed next to Ayane with her dual tanto blades at the ready.

Ayane was shocked. She was about to fight alongside the legendary Shadow of Mugen Tenshin. She was surprised that she hadn't aged over twenty years old, but that wasn't important. Ayane and Maria shot looks of disapproval and hatred toward one another but were focused as soon as Zell let out a monstrous howl that somehow only managed to wake two people, Takashi and Kasumi.

Takashi and Kasumi both shot out of their rooms, and since they were across the hall from one another it was easier to keep up.

"Kasumi, you heard that howl too?" Takashi asked, shocked that something would happen on a vacation.

"Yeah, I think it came from the forest... I remember seeing some animals there. Maybe we should check that area out first?" Kasumi replied and started down the hall.

"We'll never make it that way. Come on and jump from my balcony." Takashi suggested and went back into his room and opened the doors to the balcony and leapt. Kasumi followed without a second thought and the two began toward the jungle.

Zell was now majority of his wolf form. Everything but his hands were covered in red fur and fire. Ayane and Maria nodded at each other then dashed on either side of the suffering wolf kid, and thus they began to attack.

On the inside, Zell was doing the same thing. He was fighting for control of himself and the red wolf.

"Well kid, looks like you screwed up this time. Heh heh. Now I'm taking over." The red wolf laughed hoarsly.

"No, I just miscalculated, but when this is over, you will be the one on your knees!" Zell yelled and charged at the hostile animal.

Maria and Ayane were not having as much luck as either of them had hoped, due to the rings of fire being produced from the wolf's body fron his head. Ayane paid this no attention, as she let her frustration out wherever she could land a hit.

"Attack the head. You're bound to do damage there." Maria instructed in a low tone. Ayane nodded and darted at the wolf, followed by Maria, who decided to serve as the decoy.

The wolf waved and flailed its arms all over, but missed Maria each time, and each time there was an explosion, further leading two more combatants into the midnight fray.

With the wolf's focus on Maria, Ayane dove from a tree and almost buried her weapon in it's skull, but nothing happened except what Maria planned. The rings of fire were no more, and Maria delivered an explosive blow to it's ribcage, causing a large burst of black energy and made the wolf double over. Ayane jumped off of the head and gave a sideways axe kick to it's head and planted it into the muddy water. It rose with more vigor and howled and sent Ayane flying toward a tree. Maria disappeared, almost like teleporting, and caught Ayane before she would have been split in two by a tree. The wolf inhaled deeply and shot a fire ball from its mouth that was dead-on, and exploded on contact. The fire bured less powerfully, and the bodies of Ayane and Maria were not seen. The wolf chuckled and howled once again, but was stopped by a pair of fists. Takashi and Kasumi saved Ayane and Maria. Maria glared at the firey spot that would have been her undoing and sighed. "Zell, you owe me big time for this." Maira grumbled and jumped back into the battle and stopped the incoming claw attack and blocked it with her dual tanto and Takashi threw Kasumi at the wolf and she flipped up it's head then knocked the beast on his back and Ayane jumped with Maria and they both used the Art of the Raging Moutain God and exploded onimpact and kicked up a lot of dust.

The wolf tackled Zell onto the ground and began to attempt to tear out his neck, but Zell was a step ahead and shot a burst of flames from his mouth into tht of the wolf, sending him flying across the dark area. The wolf rolled with the force and regained his footing, then bolted at Zell with force enough to topple a skyscraper. Zell caught the mouth of the animal and flipped it onto the ground below, and shattered the lower jaw of the animal. Zell got into a TaeKwonDo stance and cocked his left leg high, to the point where his knee touched his face, and brought it down hard, and broke the right leg of the wolf, causing it to yelp in pain. The wolf was crippled now, and it was apparent that it couldn't fight on all fours, so it stood, slightly limp and faced Zell with both front paws near it's face, and it hopped on it's good leg and jumped and swung at Zell with it's tail. Zell grabbed the tail and spun the wolf around then slammed it on its ribcage, cracking a few ribs on impact then Zell kicked the wolf forward, causing it to roll. The wolf stood once again, this time bit more slowly and blood was dripping from it's mouth. The wolf stood on its front paws and did a high front flip, while Zell turned and spun around three times and landed a powerful kick to the red beast's spine and sent it skidding across the floor. The red wolf didn't move again, and faded into his newly recognized master.

The dust cleared and Zell was his normal self, and he was devoid of bruises, but he was unconscious.

"He'll be all right in the morning..." Maria stated and smiled menacingly then disppeared.

"That's a relief. I was kinda hoping he wouldn't die." Ayane brushed herself off and put her weapon away.

"Looks like we were able to catch a good deal of the action." Takashi smirked and looked at Kasumi.

"Well, we certainly made a good team, right Takashi?" Kasumi blushed under Takashi's eyes.

"Yeah, we do. Well let's get back to the hotel." Takashi grabbed Kasumi's hand and the two wallked back to the hotel.

Ayane stayed behind and looked over the guy whom she had just shared a decent night with, that is, until, the whole morphing scenario. She checked Zell's pulse and noticed that it was fairly strong. She stopped and glanced around to see if anyony stayed behind, and let out a small sigh when her senses conifrmed that no one else was present. She leaned in and gently kissed the cheek of the new friend she had made.

"You were a good sparring partner. We have to do it again sometime." Ayane smiled and brought the boy to her room and allowed him to stay the night in her room. She placed him on the couch for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Mixed Emotions**

_A/N: I don't own any songs used here._

* * *

><p>Ayane woke the next day to find that Zell had disappeared without a trace. She was confused as to why she was angry, but paid the feelings no mind.<p>

"Hmph, that idiot. What was his problem? What was my problem? Why did I even agree to go last night?" Ayane scolded herself for being so careless with her feelings and allowing a total stranger to see her at her most vulnerable. She made her way to the bathroom sink and proceeded to wash her face. "I just hope what I sensed wasn't fake... It was like he really seemed to care..." She looked herself in the eyes in the mirror and sighed and smiled. _"I look so pitiful... I just need to clear my head. If I see Zell, then I'll make him explain what happened last night..." _Ayane finished grooming herself and slipped into a loose white T-shirt with purple lined butterflies and purple bikini bottoms and grabbed a towel and headed to the pool.

Takashi woke up and noticed that his hands were now golden claws, as were his feet. _"What the heck! What's up with my hands and feet! This isn't good...Wait, was it beacuse of Zell?" _Takashi nearly fell on the floor from the shock, and made his way to his bathroom sink and tried to wash his face. He wasted an hour trying to convince himself that he wasn't going to die, and when he manged to do that, Kasumi was at his door.

"Takashi, may I enter?" Kasumi called out from the other side of the door.

"Well... uh..." Takashi stammered and noticed that his hands and feet were back to normal, then replied, "Sure, c'mon in..." and made his way to the door and opened it.

Kasumi wore a soft silk pink dress that rested snugly on her hips and seemed to reveal the lining of a bikini that looked to be red. Kasumi let herself in the rest of the way and looked around Takashi's room and noticed that his room was very clean and had a scent of the wind, even though the doors to the balcony were closed tighter than a space shuttle. She sat herself down on the the bed, and noticed that the sheets were warm, almost hot, as if they were fresh out of a dryer, or just ironed.

"The sheets are quite warm. Are you feeling okay, Takashi?" Kasumi looked at Takashi and frowned a little, noticing how distant her new friend had become.

"I'm fine... C'mon, let's go. I was told that we'll be having a volleyball tournament starting today." Takashi stated, trying to keep Kasumi away from his fleeting mind.

"Alright, but before we go I must ask you something." Kasumi jumped in front of Takashi, who was nervous about what she might ask.

"S-sure, go ahead and ask away." Takashi stammered, he could feel his body temperature rising at an alarming rate as Kasumi slowly inched toward his face.

"The fight last night... You know what that type of stuff does, right? It turns people into monsters." Kasumi stated simply and resumed her leave out the door. At the same time, Zell knocked on the door of Takashi's room. "_So I'm becoming a monster?"_

"Come in..." Takashi sighed and felt it was Zell.

"What's up with you?... It was my fault, wasn't it?" Zell sighed and turned to the door. Neither boy had to exchange many words, they knew they were tied together by something.

"No, it wasn't you. The action was my own, and so will be the consequences. I just didn't see this happening." Takashi replied and shown Zell his claws.

"That was my fault. I didn't know that it would trigger a reaction, and on top of that I lost control. But that's another story. Takashi, your teammate for the volleyball tournament will be Kasumi." Zell stated and left the room.

"Awesome!" Takashi cheered in a high pitched voice until he caught himself. _"Damn, that's another slip up... Maintain control..."_ Takashi clenched his teeth and sighed. He got into the shower and cleaned himself up, and dressed himself in another hawk themed outfit, comprised of a soft white T-shirt and silk black shorts, each with the hawk emblem somewhere near the seams.

_"So Takashi is a former project too... looks like there are ten that I need to find... but that may have been a side effect. I'll see if Ayane had any strange things happen to her..." _Zell thought as he walked out of the hotel and bumped into Ayane, who was happy and a bit angry with him.

"Zell, I need you to answer some questions. I need the answers now!" Ayane was being more agressive. Mornings were definately not her thing.

"O-Of course. What can I help you with?" Zell stammered and walked to a secluded location to discuss what happened the day prior.

"What was with you last night? Were you trying to kill me or something?" Ayane asked as she walked and followed Zell intently.

Zell sighed and turned toward the violet haired kunoichi, "I wasn't trying to kill you. There was something I wanted to tell you last night, but it happened before I could tell you."

Ayane crossed her arms and huffed, "Well, I don't have anything against freaks of nature, but you could have told me when you asked me out."

Zell looked surprised at what Ayane said, but quickly covered himself, "...You know how that feels... I almost forgot that."

"...Know how what feels? Oh, yeah. I know what being hated feels like." Ayane grumbles and jumped onto a tree branch and looked at the wolf boy with a strange glint in her eye.

Zell looked at the kunoichi and noticed her eyes were a grapefruit pink color. "I wanted you to know that your partner for the volleyball tournament will be myself, also you will be required to participate in a karoke sing off tonight at the casino." Zell stated and looked at his gloved hands.

"...You're welcome. That wasn't easy, but I hate easy jobs." Ayane stated and leaned back in the tree, she intended to not respond to what Zell had just told her about the night's events.

"...Thanks. By the way, did a woman in a black ninja suit help you keep me in line?" Zell asked and played with his hands, clenching and unclenching them periodically.

"Yeah, she looked a lot like the Mugen's Shadow, but how did she know it was you?" Ayane asked, she was staring at the glittering sunlight through the trees and unconsciously smiling at the scenery.

"That isnt important." Zell stated and stood straight again. "But the volleyball rounds start in an hour, at Niki Beach. Be on time, okay?" Zell stated dully and walked off into the deeper reaches of the forest.

_"So, he does have ties to the Shadow of the Mugen Tenshin... But what exactly are the ties? Hmph, this just keeps getting better and better..." _Ayane smirked to herself and jumped off the tree and started toward Niki beach for the first round of Volleyball.

"All right, ladies... and two guys... It's time to get into your pairs for the volleyball tag tournament! OH yes!" Zack called from a megaphone and a nice seat that looked similar to a lifeguard's chair.

The teams were: Zell and Ayane, Takashi and Kasumi, Tina and Rio, Hitomi and Lisa, Christie and Helena, and Kokoro and Leifang.

"Okay! so here's how the tournament will go... Zell and Ayane, you two will face off against Christie and Helena for a spot in the finals. Takashi and Kasumi will go against Leifang and Kokoro, and Tina and Rio will go against Hitomi and Lisa. Understand?" Niki smiled cheerfully and winked at both Zell and Takashi, and went to each boy and gave them a kiss on the cheek, and in return got two hardened glares from Kasumi and Ayane simultaneously.

"All right baby! Looks like Taka's up with the Strawberry ninja versus Leifang and Kokoro! Get on the court!" Zack directed in his usual annnoying hyperactive voice that seemed louder without the mega phone.

Takashi and Kasumi approached one side of the volleyball net, and Leifang accompanied Kokoro on the opposite side.

"Well I guess I'll serve it first." Takashi sighed and caight the volleyball that Zack had chosen for them to play with. The ball was an ugly dark brownish green, it resembled a wadded up pile of crap. _"This guy has it in for me and Zell... I can just feel it." _Takashi thought with a grumble and served the ball over the net with great skill.

Kokoro returned the ball with a double club underhand and Kasumi dove onto the warm sands and kept the ball in play. Takashi jumped into the air and spiked the ball down with vigor, and scored the first point. Kasumi took the second serve and gave it an overhand start. Leifang lobbed the ball into the air and Kokoro spiked it down hard, but Takashi dove in at the last second to save the ball, which Kasumi used and planted the ball into the sand at Leifang's feet. Two to Zero, Kasumi and Takashi were in the lead and hardly broke a sweat. Leifang and Kokoro had to take things up a notch. Kasumi served and it was sent to Kokoro and she lobbed it up in a manner that allowed for a quick spike. Kasumi shot Takashi a look and a nod. He sprinted and blocked the spike, but got hit very hard in the abdomen. He skidded back a few inches and the ball flew back onto the opposite side, where the ball flew over Leifang and Kokoro sent it back to Kasumi's side. Kasumi dashed and spiked the ball as Takashi struggled to stand from the power spike of Leifang. The ball thudded hard on the sand of Leifang's side, thus scoring a third point for Kasumi and Takashi.

"Takashi, are you okay?" Kasumi rushed to Takahsi's side as soon as she hit the ball.

"I'm fine... Just a small tap." Takashi stood up as if nothing had just happened to his body, but he was certain to not touch the point of impact.

The team of two resumed their positions on the court and Takashi served the round. He overhanded the ball onto Leifang's side and Kokoro returned it with little effort, but the ball flew rather high into the air, and that's when Kasumi came and spiked the all so hard that it bounced off of Leifang's chest, effectively knocking the wind out of her, and sent her rolling backwards. The ball landed right next to Leifang and that was another point for Takashi and Kasumi.

"Well, looks like this is match point folks." Zack flailed his arms annoyingly, similar to a what a child does when they can't get their way.

"Come on, Leifang. I can't do much more than this." Kokoro whined and helped her partner up.

"Oh, please. If you can enter the Dead or Alive tournament, then you came play a bit harder on the volleyball court." Leifang winced in a small bit of pain, from beint hit in the chest with the volleyball.

The two teams got into the ready and Kasumi served the ball over the net. Leifang returned the ball and switched spots with Kokoro as Takashi set the ball for the game winning point. Kasumi ran off of Takashi's back for extra height and did a front flip and hit the ball toward the earth with her ninja skills and it plowed a nice pile of sand into the air, effectively leaving everybody, except Zell and Ayane, with stunned looks on their faces.

"Well that was a nice match..." Kasumi bowed and walked off of the court.

"Damn Baby! That was some sick skills out there Kasumi! Nice Job!" Zack shot Kasumi a thumbs up and the onlookers, except for Ayane, gave applause.

"Thank you, but it was Takashi's idea..." Kasumi walked with Takashi toward the umbrella tables near the court.

"Next up is... Tina and Rio versus Hitomi and Lisa! All right! Looks like there will be some heavy hittin' on both teams' parts! Let's get it!" Zack yelled and the four ladies nodded and headed onto either side on the net. Zack threw Tina a saphire blue volleyball and the next match was underway.

"I won't hold back." Tina stated and rolled her shoulders as she oftentimes would.

"I wouldn't want you to." Lisa smirked and did some shoulder stretches of her own.

Rio served the ball and Hitomi sent it high over the net, Tina kept the ball in play and Rio sent it down hard for the first point. Tina severed the second point with a hard overhand to Lisa, who returned the ball and lobbed it to Hitomi for the power spike to tie the score. Hitomi served the next round and launched the ball at a nice speed at Rio, who managed to deflect the incoming face bomb and sent it high for Tina to crater. Two to one, Tina served the next ball and hurled it nicely over the net. Lisa saw the incoming ball and sent it spiraling back to whence it came. Rio cocked back a double club underhand blow and hit the ball with a thud and it flew more upward than diagonal, setting up for a perfect spike. Tina practically punched the ball into the other side of the court, and earned her team another point. Rio served the next ball and it skimmed the top of the net, a skillshot, and it rolled to the top of Hitomi's hand, but still managed to fly back over. Tina was on her A game and was assisted by Rio, and hopped higher into the air and blasted the ball back once again and scored another point. Rio scored the last point with no effort at all, she over handed the serve and it skimmed the net, Lisa returned the shot, but a bit too highly, and Rio reacted first and planted the ball in the dirt.

"Whew! that's some heavy hittin'! Nice job ladies! Next, Ayane and Zell against Helena and Christie. Let's get this show on the road y'all!" Zack exclaimed and looked at the sun starting to set. "There's a karaoke sing along tonight in the casino. You all must attend. Thank ya kindly. We'll continue the tournament tomorrow at noon." Zack added with more seriousness in his voice.

"Great, I don't sing." Ayane grumbled as she followed Zell onto one side of the net.

"It won't be so bad. I bet you won't even get a hard song." Zell shrugged and stated casually.

"Well, you act like you know that for certain, like you already know what's gonna happen and whatnot." Ayane folded her arms and eyed the red haired boy harshly for a second, her gaze spelling death.

"Hm, well I don't but I'm simply trying to lighten the mood. Nothing major." Zell shrugged off the gaze and caught the nasty green ball from Zack.

Ayane served the ball and christie retuned the serve with a lob, but Zell's animal instincts caught on and he plowed the ball hard. Helena tried to block, but got the wind knocked from her as she got sent to the ground. Zell served the next with a dark grin. He skimmed the net on the overhand serve, and helena retuned fire, but got shot down by Ayane. Zell ssmirked again and blasted the ball over to Christie, she couldnt handle the force, so it bounced off of her hands and out of bounds. Ayane served a overhand and helena returned with a lobbed ball, Zell finished with a hard spike. He took the final serve and underhanded the serve. Helena set it up for a spike by Christie, but Ayane blocked the ball, but got sent flying back in the process. She was caught by Zell and they had won their game.

"...Th-thanks for the catch..." Ayane stammered slightly under the wolf boy's gaze. She felt heat in her cheeks and hoped that she wasn't blushing, but much to her dismay, she was.

"You're welcome. Allow me to carry you to your room." Zell replied and held Ayane bridal style, she became very sheepish, but did nothing to stop it.

"Well, y'all know the results. Now make yourselfs fray- ash and get on down to the casino!" Zack said and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

All of the vacationers were in the casino. Zell, Takashi, and co. were looking around to find that there were more people in the casino than there were actually roaming the island, Zell made a note to destroy this island after he gathered more intel on whether Zack truly knew about the Alphas or the next tournament.

"Well if you all will follow me backstage..." Niki stated and lead the group of ten back behind the curtains of the casino.

"How's this karaoke thing gonna work?" Ayane asked with folded arms and a raised eyebrow, keenly inspecting the figure that was ahead of her.

"Well, it will be a roulette. A song will be chosen first then a person will be chosen to sing it. That simple." Niki stated without looking back to see the violet kunoichi's hard eyes glaring at her skull filled with intent to kill.

"Hmm, so it'll be a chance that many of us will have to sing a song about love or something isn't there?" Zell stated with his eyes half open and his arms folded like a monk's as he tailed Niki.

"Yep! Exactly. Good luck you guys and here we are." Niki replied happily and opened a door and lead the group in.

"So what now? We wait or something?" Takashi shrugged and looked at the femine room, covered in mirrors and bright light adorned the mirrors along with some makeup kits and other things.

"Pretty much. Zack'll be here to choose the first contestant. Later!" Niki smiled and brushed her breasts on Takashi as her headed out the door, and blew a kiss to the meditating Zell in the corner, then closed the door with a rough thud.

Ayane saw Zell's reaction to the air kiss and she noticed he was staring intently at the ground. His face was slowly becoming a red tint, as was hers. She was a bit flustered at this but made her way over toward the wolf boy nonetheless. Kasumi spotted the surprised look on Takashi's face and moved over to him to see what the problem was.

"Um, Taka-kun...? Is there something wrong?" Kasumi asked in a soft tone which seemed to reach Takashi despite the other girls' loud chatter.

"N-no. there's nothing wrong. Heh, I'm just a bit excited is all." Takashi smiled goofily as Zack entered wearing a sparkling golden silk suit that reflected light everwhere.

"All right, baby! First up is Kasumi and Takashi! They have a song is called 'Across the border'. Get out there and give us a show!" Zack struck a pose and light glittered blindingly throughout the room.

"Ok, just get the hell outta here with that!" Zell growled and shielded his eyes from the brightness that was Zack.

"Well, tough crowd." Zack mumbled and lead Takashi and Kasumi out to the stage.

Takashi and Kasumi were somewhat surprised at how many people were in the casino, the lights hid most of the faces, and all chatter was killed quickly as the spotlights were on them. Kasumi eased toward Takashi for some type of support, and was greeted by a warm smile from the boy.

"You'll be great, Kasumi." Takashi smiled at the red haired kunoichi, and she returned his smile with one of her own and a nod. The music began to play and the words were being shown on some type of neon board.

Kasumi started the song off, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath and began the chorus.

_You can push yourself to the limit, _

_be strong now jump with me_

_You can fly above a rainbow with me, _

_close your eyes and just believe_

Takashi took over with a bit more enthusiasm

_Nothing's gonna stop you and me from hittin'_

_Do what we want while this beat is kickin'_

_You know that you're my kindred spirit_

_Fly with me T-K a push it to the limit_

Kasumi

_You used to hide, behind another face_

_At first I didn't understand, but then I saw_

_In you a kindred spirit, I called your name_

_And held out my hand, Then you looked in my eyes_

_And I said, "Never let anything get in the way of saving those that you love,_

_no matter what they said you can be stron I feel it in your heart."_

_[Chorus]_

Takashi

_I got you when the going get rough, yo_

_Nobody's as tough as this love_

_You may feel like you can't go on_

_If you try something inside will survive, never die_

_Now you feelin' my flow, you knw what I mean_

_No doubt that you're feeling like I do_

_Don't let a chance like this pass by you_

_A combo like you and me, is meant to be_

_Fly across the border_

Kasumi and Takashi

_You can push yourself to the limit be stronger, now_

_(Like a combo of you and me you'll see, C'mon, let's fly across the border)_

_You can fly above a rainbow with me, close your eyes and you'll see_

_(Like a combo of you and me baby, C'mon, let's fly across the border. If you try, something inside will survive, never die, Fly across the border)_

The two recieved a standing ovation, and Ayane watched from the side and fumed to herself.

"Okay, baby! That was awesome! The next song will be performed by Zell, Get on over here boy!" Zack appeared from nowhere and waved for Zell to come over to the stage next.

"Herre we go, I justt hope I get something I'm good at..." Zell grumbled to himself as he approached the stage.

"Your song will be... 'Survive' originally sung by Rise Against. Start it up!" Zack blared then disappeared into a puff of smoke again.

Zell sighed and took a deep breath as the guitars started and the lights dimmed. He hung his head and waited for the guitar to start up at a faster speed. His tone was perfect with the song, feelings of anger dripped from each of the following words.

_Somewhere between happy and a total fucking wreck_

_Feet sometimes on solid ground, sometimes at the edge_

_To spend your waking moments, simply killing time_

_Is to give up on your hopes and dreams, is to give on your_

_[Chorus] Life for you has been less than kind_

_So take a number, stand in line_

_We've all been sorry, we've all been hurt_

_But how we survive is what makes us who we are_

_An obvious disinterest, a barely managed smile_

_A deep nod in agreement, a status quo exile_

_I shirk my obligations, I miss all your deadlines_

_I excel at quitting early, I'm fucking up my life_

_[Chorus]_

_It's all smiles and sunshine, a perfect world on a perfect day_

_Everything always works out, I have never felt so fucking great (x2)_

_Life isn't like this(x3)_

_Are we verging on an answer, or fucking up our_

_[Chorus]_

_It's what makes us who we are_

_Makes us who we are_

_It's what makes us who we are_

Zell walked calmly backstage, seemingly oblivious to the looks he recieved, especially from Ayane, then Zack appeared once again.

"Damn, Baby! That was on crazy song! Nice job. Next up is Ayane." Zack called out happily, Ayane's face became twisted in displeasure.

"...Just great, Like I needed this..." Ayane crossed her arms and went onto the stage.

"Your song will be... 'E. T.' Get it, baby!" Zack disappeard once again and the enire backstage was sinckering and laughing.

"We're going to be in for a treat." Tina laughed and Hitomi agreed.

"This is gonna be a sight to see." Lisa stated and the rest of the girls laughed hysterically.

"Hm... I'll see this one up close." Zell stated more to himself than anyone else. Kasumi spotted the wolf boy and pulled Takashi to go as well.

Ayane stood on the stage and released a great sigh. She knew the lyrics to the song too well, just thinking about who would have heard the words made her blush.

_You're so hypnotizing_

_Could you be the devil, could you be an angel_

_Your touch, magnetizing_

_Fells like Im floating, leaves my body glowing_

_They say, be afraid_

_But you're not like the others, futuristic lover_

_Different DNA_

_They don't understand you_

_[Chorus] You're from a whole other world_

_A different dimension_

_You open my eyes_

_I'm ready to go, lead me into the night_

_Kiss me, Ki-ki-kiss me_

_Infect me with your lovin'_

_Fill me with your poison_

_Take me, ta-ta-take me_

_Wanna be a victim_

_Ready for abduction_

_Boy, you're an alien_

_Your touch so foreign_

_It's supernatural_

_Extraterrestrial_

_You're so supersonic_

_Wanna feel your powers, stun me with your laser_

_Your kiss is cosmic_

_Every move is magic_

_[Chorus]_

_This is transcendental, on another level_

_Boy, you're my lucky star_

_I wanna walk on your wavelenght, and be there when you vibrate_

_For you, I'd risk it all_

_[Chorus]_

_Boy you're an alien_

_Your touch is so foreign_

_It's supernatural_

_Extraterrestrial_

When the song was done, Ayane beat a hasty retreat to one of the more secluded areas, which weren't in the casino. She didn't know she was followed either. Zelll was the only one, besides Kasumi who could keep up with a ninja's speed. When she finally stopped to breathe, she looked at her location, and she noticed she ran to the part of the jungle where she and Zell had spent the night prior. She sighed and shivered a bit. She left her jacket backstage in the casino, and she wasn't about to go back so soon. There was rustling in some nearby bushes and Ayane looked alert as the figure emerged from the small bushes, it was Zell, and in hs hand was a jacket. He offered the jacket to the kuniochi, and she reluctantly took it.

"...You were right, Zell..." Ayane sighed in relief as the jacket was warm, as if the wearer had just took it off, and she started up the tree from their date.

"...About what, Ayane?" Zell stayed at the base of the tree, and folded his arms, just like Hayate would do.

"...It does get cold at night. I'm glad you came after me..." Ayane stated and began to glance up at the sky and the shining stars.

"Well, I was just worried about you. I hope you don't mind me caring." Zell replied and stayed on the base of the tree.

"...No, I don't mind it. In fact, I'm glad you came after me." Ayane smiled to herself as she spoke.

"Really, now? Is there any particular reason for that?" Zell asked, a hint of excitement was in his voice.

"Well, I don't really know... but whenever you're around... I just... get calm, I guess..." Ayane shrugged and curled up a bit.

"Well, I guess I can help you along with that even more." Zell stated and climbed in the tree behind Ayane and gently wrapped his arms around her waist.

Ayane gasped briefly then leaned back on the wolf boy, feeling the warmth of his body on hers, and she sighed and blushed softly. Zell said nothing, he simply smiled and held the kunoichi in his arms and they both watched the stars.

Takashi and Kasumi were wandering on the Island in the night as well, and weren't too far from the other pair. Takashi and Kasumi decided to stop at the tranquil beach and talk for a while.

"So, Kasumi... Were there any ninja that were exiled from your village? I mean, aside from you?" Takashi spoke sheepishly, careful to not offend the orange haired kunoichi.

"Well, there was one other ninja that held good intentions, Taka-kun. He was the legendary Phoenix of the Mugen Tenshin." Kasumi smiled a bit as she sat on the soft cool sand of the beach.

"What? P-please, tell me more Kasumi-chan." Takashi almost dropped onto the sand when he heard his father's stage name mentioned in such a manner.

"Well, he was very proficient in pyrotechincs, and was a very smart scientist." Kasumi began, and let out a soft yawn as she finished the statement.

"That... sounds exactly like my father... Was he keeping something from me?" Takashi asked himself aloud, he stared at his hands and the firey bird claws appeared again.

Kasumi gasped at what she saw, but was unsure of how to react. Takashi sighed and stared blankly at the ground and sighed. "They were dormant. Zell was the one who triggered the reaction..." Takashi sated sadly, and Kasumi slowly approached the bird boy.

"Um... Taka-kun, it's not all that bad..." Kasumi stated in her trademark soft tone, but Takashi didn't look at her, nor did he respond.

"It's like you said, Kasumi-chan... I'll turn into a monster, just like what we fought yesterday... and to think I was actually thinking I could re-join my village. They'll never accept me..." Takashi clenched his fists tightly, so tight that blood dripped onto the sand.

Kasumi felt bad about not choosing her words more carefully before, but she didn't give up. "Taka-kun? I-I didn't mean it that way..."

"...Yeah, sure. But you called Zell a monster and we were apart of the same experiment." Takashi spat his words at Kasumi, not intentionally, but he was simply stating how he felt.

"Well, Takashi-kun... I think... I'll just let you think about things tonight... and I'll see you in the morning?" Kasumi winced inside, she didn't mean to harm the young Kaido, but had done so inadvertedly, so she felt losing the one friend she had was going to ruin her life. She quietly and quickly stood to leave the beach area, silently weeping as the tears rolled down her face.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – the Fate of Zack's Island**

Takashi woke up the next day and sighed. "What did I do to Kasumi? I hope she isn't too mad at me…"

The Kaido boy looked around his hotel room and noticed the balcony doors were open. He raised himself out of his bed and went to go close the doors. At the base of the two doors was a small letter, written in elegant pink cursive. The letter was from Kasumi, and it was for Takashi. It looked like an apology letter. The young boy picked up the letter and as he closed the doors to the balcony, he read the letter.

Elsewhere, in the forested area of Zack's Island, Kasumi sat with Ayane in another large tree. Kasumi was dressed in a silk pink dress that stopped at her thighs; Ayane was wearing a white button up shirt, with the buttons undone, and a black one piece bathing suit under it. Ayane was leaning back on one of the trees stronger branches as she processed what happened the night prior. Kasumi was doing the same.

"…So you think that he hates you now?" Ayane asked as she fixed her eyes on the morning sunlight trickling through the trees, her arms were crossed behind her head.

"Judging by the way he stormed off last night, I would think so." Kasumi replied sheepishly, as if she had just told a deep secret.

Ayane sighed and gave the runaway kunoichi a questioning glance, as if she was trying to find something out from Kasumi's face. "It's not that serious Kasumi. You just need to apologize, especially if you feel so strongly on the matter. If he cares even a little, he will accept the apology."

"Y-you have a point, but…" Kasumi tried to comeback, but stammered at the thought of what might occur. His rage was something she didn't want to see two days in a row.

"Ugh, you are truly hopeless. You can't even keep the guy that has a crush on you…" Ayane grumbled and jumped from the tree and landed silently on her feet.

"Uh… What?" Kasumi looked dumbfounded at the statement and blushed a bit.

"Goodbye. I have a date with Zell. I don't want him to wait too long." Ayane stated in a teasing manner, and then she dashed off toward the Zack of All Trades Shop.

"Takashi… has a crush on me? How did I not see it…" Kasumi pondered the thought then shook it away as one of Ayane's mind games.

"_She__'__s__just__messing__with__me__again,__I__know__it__… __But__if__that__'__s__true,__then__why__can__'__t__I__get__it__out__of__my__mind?__"_ Kasumi thought to herself as she headed toward the pool area, hoping she would meet the Kaido boy and apologize in person.

Zell, who was dressed in a red and black tiki based outfit, sat dully at the Zack of All Trades Shop as he waited for the violet haired kunoichi. He didn't know what, but there was something about her that intrigued him. He looked around one last time and sighed. _"__This__guy__wants__to__die.__Why__else__would__he__make__me__a__damned__cashier?__" _Zell thought to himself then was brought out of his thoughts by a tapping on the desk that separated his from the customers.

"How may I help…" Zell stopped in his tracks when he saw Niki leaning on the desk and twirling her hair slowly.

"Hey, Zell… I noticed you were looking kind of bored here, so I decided to come over and help you pass the time." Niki spoke rather seductively, her charm worked on most guys, but Zell seemed impervious to all of her tricks, to a certain extent, after all, his own commanding officer tries the same methods all the time.

"Nope. I'm waiting for someone. She'll be here soon, and if you value your looks, life, or whatever, you won't try any funny stuff…" Zell stated blandly and let out a soft yawn.

Niki seemed insulted by this, but stayed persistent. "Are you talking about that ninja girl? Oh please. She's not the type to TRY to get a boyfriend, let alone and friends." Niki scoffed and brushed his remark off and proceeded to get further in his face.

"Yeah, but that's where you're wrong, tramp." Ayane stated and tapped Niki on the shoulder and pushed her away from Zell's expressionless face.

Zell let out an inner sigh of relief and folded his arms and smirked at Niki's expression. She had a look of disgust and disappointment rolled together. She said nothing more and turned to walk away in a huff.

"Thanks, Ayane. I owe ya one." Zell stated with a wolfish smirk as he eyed the kunoichi's outfit and the way it hugged her curves.

"You can thank me by showing me a good time today, deal?" Ayane stated and crossed her arms as she waited for Zell to close up the shop.

"Deal, so Ayane, What exactly do you like to do?" Zell asked as he finished up locking the shop, and when he was done, he brought out an Ice cream cone.

Ayane eyed the cone in the wolf boy's hand, and then proceeded to answer his question. "Well, usually I like to get beauty treatments, and read aesthetics. I also like to eat candied chestnuts and have a nice cream soda every so often."

"Well, I have your favorite treat right here. I hope you don't mind sharing with me." Zell stated and handed the vanilla cone over to the violet kunoichi.

Ayane reluctantly took the cone and eyed the wolf boy carefully. She couldn't sense any hostility in him; at least not toward her. She took the cone and licked a few of the chestnuts from it and began to munch on them quietly. Zell tenderly grabbed her free hand and proceeded to eat the ice cream cone with her as he slowly guided her to the Beach of Bass Island. Upon their arrival she instantly recognized two water crafts floating on the shore line.

"Hey… are those… jet skis?" Ayane asked after she finished the last piece of the cone that she and Zell shared.

"Yes they are. I challenge you to a race. Do you accept?" Zell asked as he guided the violet kunoichi.

"How about we make it a bit more interesting?" Ayane replied with a sly grin on her face.

Zell raised an eyebrow and gave a look of interest, something Hayate did frequently when he was with her, and said, "Sure, what do you have in mind?"

"If I win, you have to tell me something about you that I didn't already know." Ayane wagged a finger in his face, then she jumped on the purple and white jet ski.

"Ok, and the same goes for you." Zell stated with a shrug and got onto the red and black Jet Ski.

The two eyed one another and zoomed off to the mini floating lighthouse and curved around it. Zell had taken the lead on the turn, simply because he used the split in the water that came from Ayane's Jet Ski, and it gave him a small lead, which helped him gain the victory.

"Oh that sucks." Ayane folded her arms and pouted like a child and huffed.

"Well, a deal's a deal. So tell me something about yourself." Zell stated and got off of the Jet Ski and sat on the soft sand of the beach.

"You have a point… well my father was a vile creature that was the younger brother to the previous head of my clan…" Ayane stated briskly, the recollection of the man who caused her birth made her angry, but then she remembered how the villagers had treated her and she gave a heavy sigh. The anguish of those memories swept over her like a tidal wave over a tiny barricade and it was starting to show in her eyes as tiny tears slowly crept down her cheeks.

Zell stood and walked over to the kunoichi that shared a similar broken past with him, and got onto the Jet Ski behind her. He said nothing as she laid her head on his chest and he gently placed his arms around her and held her to him as she allowed the silent tears of her pent up emotions of her past to come forth once more. Zell held her closer as she placed her hands gently and tenderly on his hands. The two sat in silence as the gentle sounds of the waves helped pass the time.

Kasumi looked around the pool for a moment, and let out a heavy sigh. She was looking to find Takashi and apologize for her words. Unfortunately, he was nowhere in sight. After walking three slow laps around the pool, Kasumi just sighed and sat in at one of the tables on the rim of the pool. She sighed and put her face in her hands, trying to think of something that would take her mind off of the son of the Phoenix. A few moments passed and she became enveloped in her thoughts of her brother, Hayate, and began to think about how he was and about the village that seemed to care so deeply for her at one point and time.

"Oh, Hayate… I hope you aren't feeling the way that I have been for so long a time…" Kasumi sighed and slowly placed her head on the table.

"I doubt that he is. After all, you have to remember that he worries more about you than you do of him. You're the one in danger, not him." Takashi's voice came from behind the kunoichi. She whipped her head around, effectively causing her hair to rise with the small breeze that had come.

"Taka-kun! You came!" Kasumi smiled and gave the boy a tight hug, which shocked him as he was unaware of the strength of the petite kunoichi.

"Ah… Kasumi-chan… I'm glad you're feeling better…" Takashi stated in between gasps of air. Kasumi released him and he almost fell over trying to recover from the death hug.

"I-I… just wanted to apologize to you… about yesterday…" Kasumi quickly became shy and timid, especially after she caught Takashi's yellow orbed gaze.

"It's fine… I was the one out of line anyway… so… I apologize." Takashi stated and offered his hand for a hand shake.

Kasumi smiled a soft smile and gripped his hand gently in acknowledgment. Both teens spoke at the same time, "Apology accepted."

The two of them walked to Niki Beach and sat at one of the tables covered by an umbrella and began to talk about things and Takashi asked more about his father.

"So, Kasumi-chan… How strong was my father?" Takashi asked, his excitement returning almost instantly.

"Well, he was one of the people that were looked up to. Even by my father. He was the most trusted man in the village. He was always a kind man, and even took care of me at one point…I remember one time that he burnt a whole army to cinders, too. It was amazing, and… a little scary." Kasumi recalled and smiled at some of the memories of her past.

"Awesome! That's amazing! So my dad wasn't a bad person." Takashi smiled and leaned back in his chair.

"Of course it is, Taka-kun! He was one of the best. It's an honor to be the son of one so accomplished. Even my father said so." Kasumi smiled and placed her hands on the table and gave a smile to Takashi.

"Whoa. Really? I never knew…" Takashi replied. He was in awe that his father was such an idol throughout the Mugen Tenshin Clan.

Takashi leaned in toward the young runaway kunoichi's face, clearly enticed by the stories that were forgotten, or kept hidden from him for so long. Pretty soon, the two were really close to one another, and they both blushed hard when they realized it. Each teen pulled back and looked sheepishly at the other.

"Hey! Ya'll need to get a room baby!" Zack yelled at the top of his lungs as he appeared from thin air, scaring the two indefinitely. Zack was in another sparkling suit, this one was silver and the sequins shined annoyingly brightly with each motion he made.

"Oh man… Here you go again." Takashi sighed as he shielded his eyes from the brightness that was Zack.

"Ya'll need to get on over to the Jungle! The final round is gonna be there. Hurry up baby!" Zack called in a high pitched voice then he disappeared in another puff of smoke.

"…Well, Kasumi-chan. Let's hurry before he shows up again…" Takashi sighed and led Kasumi to the Jungle area.

In the Jungle, Kasumi and Takashi were surprised to see a large set of bleachers standing next to a volleyball net. Sitting on the bleachers were all of the other competitors of the forced tournament, all of those who lost. On the opposite side of the volleyball net stood Zell and Ayane, both seemed annoyed about something, and Takashi and Kasumi had a feeling they knew what, or rather, who it was. The two teams approached each other and Zack began another gaudy entrance and spoke so loudly that even a deaf person would be able to hear him clear as day.

"Hell yeah! The final round of the tournament! Who will be the champion this time? Aw Yeah, Here we go!" Zack cheered and tried to excite the crowd.

Everyone gave some cheers and the like as the two teams came and approached each other. Kasumi's face was still red as she looked to the opponents, Zell and Ayane.

"Well, let's make this quick." Ayane stated and crossed her arms; apparently Zack had come and screwed her day up too.

"I think I'll forfeit." Zell looked at the setting sun and crossed his arms as well.

"Really? But what about the prize?" Takashi asked the wolf boy.

"There is no prize dude. You only get a cornball title that no one's gonna care about." Zell stated and closed his eyes.

"Well that's not fair… He lied to us." Kasumi put her hand to her chin, giving a very innocent stance as she stared into Ayane's eyes, half expecting her to say something.

Ayane rolled her eyes and scoffed at the runaway's eyes. "Hey Zack, I concede." Ayane stated and walked into the forest.

"I concede as well. Adios." Zell stated and went in the direction of the hotels.

Zack looked baffled for a split second but then he resumed his annoyingly loud speaking. "Well damn! Looks like we have a winner by default! Takashi and Kasumi! HEEEEEEYYYYY!" Zack yelled and flung his arms through the air.

The group left quickly and silently as Zack did this, and when he looked, he noticed everyone had already left.

"Tough ass crowd. Damn." Zack sighed and disappeared again.

Kasumi has whisked Takashi away, into the forest and to the spot she and Ayane usually spoke and conversed in. She looked and noticed the sun setting. She hopped into the tallest tree she could and peeked through the trees and smiled softly to herself.

"So Kasumi, What are you going to do? Tomorrow is when we have to leave." Takashi reminded the young runaway, she frowned when he said these words, and at that instant, Ayane's words echoed through her mind.

"_After__this__vacation,__you__and__I__will__go__back__to__being__the__hunter__and__the__hunted.__Got__that?__"_ Ayane's voice had harshness to it and Kasumi cringed a bit.

"I guess I'll have to go back to life on the run…" Kasumi looked down from the gentle sunlight and began to fix her eyes on the forest itself, her paranoia was slowly returning at this point.

Ayane smirked at the couple as she emerged from a nearby tree. "You two are really something."

"Ayane! How did you…?" Takashi was surprised that he didn't sense the violet kunoichi before now, and Kasumi felt the same way.

Ayane walked to Kasumi and got in her face, jabbing her index finger into the top of Kasumi's chest, "I'll tell you what, I'll give you a week. Then I'll be on your tail again. Got it?" Ayane stated darkly, making sure her point was well known.

"Thank you, Ayane. I appreciate your kindness." Kasumi gave a deep bow and started toward the hotel.

"I have to get my stuff together too." Takashi realized and dashed off behind Kasumi.

"Haha, looks like the beach is gonna be all mine. I'd better go…" Ayane snickered to herself as she gave a twirl and disappeared into a small cloud of purple iris petals and reappeared at an empty Tranquil Beach. She looked up into the sky and noticed a shooting star zip across the sky. She gasped and looked around to confirm her solitude, and then she clasped her hands together and made a wish.

"… _Please,__let__me__meet__him__again__after__this__vacation__…"_ Ayane sighed and smiled a bit before she started toward the Hotel to pack her things.

"Yeah, I want a Napalm strike on this island. The bastard didn't know anything, but he was in league with Helena though." Zell stated as he paced his hotel room.

"Hmm, well we'll do the Napalm after you give the signal, ok?" Maria replied gently into the earpiece, her voice showed a bit of concern.

"Understood. Also, I encountered Kasumi and Ayane. I was able to gather some intel, but I think I'll need to go to their village and learn their ways…" Zell noted and finished his synopsis of the first part of his mission.

"I'll tell you right now that they are very biased. No outsiders who have visited their village have ever returned, if you catch my drift." Maria stated and mumbled something that sounded similar to the name "Hayate."

Zell ended the transmission and lay on his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. _"…__Ayane__… __Hmm. __I__wonder__…"_ The wolf boy thought as he slowly closed his eyes and waited to the immense fireworks that were to come in the following hours.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – Separate Ways**

The next morning, Ayane woke up and stretched as the morning sun greeted her. She let out a sigh, "Today's the last day… Kind of a pity…" She rubbed her eyes, surprised that tears were in her eyes, and made her way into the bathroom to take a shower and clear her thoughts. Today was going to be the last day of her vacation, how was she going to explain her absence from the village?

Kasumi woke up feeling dread and pain. She didn't want to be hunted anymore. She just wanted her brother to know that she was trying to avenge him, and not to bring dishonor, or reveal the Mugen Tenshin's secrets. That was her family. Why would she betray them? Kasumi yawned and made her way to the bathroom to enjoy what seemed like her final luxury shower. She was sure to enjoy it, and to never forget the feeling.

Zell sat on his balcony, on the railing, fully clothed in a snug black T-shirt and black jean shorts, except one pants leg was longer than the other, and on the longer leg was a shape that was jagged and appeared to be the lining of a heart with a zero in the middle. The wolf boy sighed and fire came from his mouth, similar to that of a dragon and his eyes were red near the irises and they faded to an orange, like a fire. A small ringing was in his ear, "Zell, after you return, I'll need you to come to headquarters for your debriefing thus far." Maria had instructed, and waited for his simple response, "Understood." The boy replied and returned to his room and closed the balcony doors and headed out to the docks.

Takashi was shirtless in his room; his medium build was augmented by the flaming wings that appeared on his back in red, yellow and orange feathers. He sighed and the wings faded. He put on a polo shirt that had a bird instead of the usual horse motif on it. His shorts were orange and seemed to bring his golden eyes out more. He took one last glance around the room, all of his things were packed and on his bed was his magazine which was autographed by both Tina and Kasumi. He heard the bellowing of the ferry and departed toward it, his autographed Dead or Alive tournament magazine under his arm all the while.

When the two boys arrived, they were the only ones there, but they were met by Tina, Lisa, and Rio. Each of the girls seemed to wear very form fitting outfits as they boarded the ferry. Tina gave Takashi a wink and a wave as she passed him, and Lisa did something of a similar manner to Zell. Both boys smirked a bit, flattered by the gestures and followed them onto the boat. Shortly after the five got situated, Leifang, Kokoro, Kasumi and Ayane entered the boat and grabbed seats. Ayane was dressed in a snug purple T-shirt, on which was a lighter shade of purple which made the image of an Iris, on her arms were elbow length fishnet fingerless sleeves, and she wore a pair of black caprice pants and some track shoes. Kasumi was in a snug pink tanktop, a loose jean skirt and shimmering white heels. Leifang wore a traditional Chinese dress and her hair was in the Chinese chignon style, and she wore her thin rimmed glasses, obviously going back into her studies on the trip back. Kokoro wore one of her usual outfits, a kimono, except it was blue and white with trees on it. Hitomi was the last to board the boat for the time being, she wore a crop top with matching low rise caprice pants. She looked around the layout of where everyone was sitting on the ship and stayed to herself for a while.

Zell was in the back, and Ayane sat next to him. Kasumi searched for Takashi and found him looking out of a window on the far right side of the boat, his DoA magazine in his lap. She joined him shortly afterward.

"Um, Takashi-kun…? May I have this seat?" Kasumi's soft voice seemed to reach over the sudden burst in noise from the other girls' conversations.

"Sure, Kasumi-chan, I don't mind it." Takashi replied and turned his attention to the former Mugen Tenshin Princess.

"I-I, uh, I… really enjoyed my time with you. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings either…" Kasumi trailed off and put her head down.

"Hmm, well I enjoyed hanging out with you too." Takashi smirked a bit at her confession, as he was pleased that they shared an opinion.

"Can I see your magazine again please?" Kasumi asked and pointed to the magazine with her on the cover.

"Sure, here ya go."

"Arigato, I have to add something to my autograph… tee hee!" Kasumi gave a small giggle as she grabbed a pen and began to scribble in the page where she had signed when they first arrived.

Meanwhile, in the rear of the boat, Ayane was having a small conversation with her new friend as well. "So, Zell, I know we won't see each other after this, but there is something I want to tell you…" Ayane stated and stared at the ceiling of the boat.

"What is it, Ayane? And I doubt that we'll be apart for very long." Zell replied and looked at the girl who was a new interest to him.

"I… I just want to thank you for the time we spent here." Ayane's face slowly became a shade of red.

"Hmm. Likewise Ayane, I really enjoyed your company. I look forward to meeting you in the tournament as well." Zell stated and folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, kicking his legs up on the seat in front of him in the process.

"You're going to be in the tournament? Well that'll be a good battle. Make sure you give it your all."

"You be sure to do the same. I won't go easy on you, you know."

"I would expect no less." Ayane smirked and gave the wolf boy a playful nudge on the shoulder before letting out a soft yawn.

Christie and Helena finally boarded the boat and the PA screeched and came to life. "We are now departing from Zack Island Estimated time of return to Japan- Six Hours; there the few other residents can board a plane to their proper homes. Please enjoy your ride. Have a nice day." The voice apparently belonged to a female, due to the slight high pitch and pleasant speech tone.

Zell pushed his communicator and a voice responded on the other end, "Napalm Strike in T-minus: 15 minutes, please evacuate all innocent bystanders and enjoy the show."

With that Zell closed his eyes so they were only half open, and Ayane turned herself so that she was resting her head on his arms and abdomen. She raised the small armrest that separated their seats, and raised the other on her right side so she could lie back and stretch freely. Her eyes looked briefly into Zell's half opened ones and for a split second, a smile was on her face.

"You were a pretty nice guy, even if you did do something stupid…" Ayane giggled to herself and closed her eyes.

"…Hmm, likewise my lavender kunoichi…" Zell mumbled and allowed Ayane to drift off into a dream on his person.

Meanwhile, on Zack Island, Zack and Niki were having champagne and enjoying having the island all to themselves once more, and fireworks were bursting in the distance as the couple sat to toast.

"The fireworks are beautiful, Zack." Niki stated with a bit of awe in her voice.

"They're in celebration of our wedding, you know…" Zack stated in a suave type of tone as he stood and offered his hand to Niki.

She stood up, a dumbfounded look on her face as she gasped, "A-A wedding! Ours!"

"Of course, baby! Now come so we can make it official…" Zack stated and puckered his lips and approached Niki.

"W-wait a sec! What about the volcano?" Niki asked, trying so hard to avoid the kiss, even with weak protest and slight pushing.

"I-it's all taken care of, baby. I handled that." Zack stated and pointed at the mountain that had a giant boulder, which was held in place by a giant rope and nails, on its peak

Zack slowly continued his approach with his lips puckered up, Niki still tried to resist, then suddenly there was a flaming ball headed directly toward the boulder.

"Zack! Zack, wait! Look at the Volcano!" Niki screamed as the boulder had burst into flames.

Zack looked to see what had freaked his girlfriend out, and subsequently dropped her when he saw what had begun. "NO! NO, no, no, no, no, no, NOOOOOOOOOO!"

The island had been engulfed in flames and everything that was on ground level was in flames. Zack ran around in panic on his fiery island and began screaming more hysterically.

Suddenly, from the sky, a rope ladder fell in front of Zack's face, he immediately stopped his panic to see who had given him this small ray of hope for escape. "Zack! Don't make me leave you behind!" Niki called from the helicopter which had released the rope ladder.

"Haha! Yeah! Niki, you're my girl!" Zack smiled and gripped the rope ladder as it began to rise from the flames of the island.

"You haven't seen the last of ME!" Zack stated indignantly, and as if on cue, there was a small burst of flames which caught on to the rope ladder and broke it.

Niki caught sight of this and screamed Zack's name as he fell into the blazing inferno that was his pride and joy.

Then in the distance, the tiny spec of land suddenly exploded and released a gigantic cloud of fire that seemed to even scorch the heavens. The explosion was heard on the boat, which had moved a considerable amount in the time given.

Kasumi whipped her head up, as did Takashi, who had fallen asleep on her chest.

"What was that?" Kasumi asked and looked to the rear of boat as if that was going to explain her inquiry.

"What was what, Kasumi-chan?" Takashi asked, a bit flustered about where his head was just moments before.

"There was a loud noise just now…" Kasumi replied as she slowly returned to her normal sitting position.

"Relax Kasumi-chan… It was probably your imagination. You seemed a bit on edge before you fell asleep." Takashi surmised, given Kasumi's history of being a ninja on the run.

She calmed down a considerable amount with this explanation, and nodded her head slowly. "Maybe so, Takashi-kun…"

Takashi placed a warm hand on the nuke-nin's face and she blushed a bit at the action, but allowed his hand to stay. "You have a week before Ayane goes on the hunt after we arrive, so why not hide out at my house?"

Kasumi's eyes grew wide at the suggestion, "A-are you certain? But what if she finds out where you reside?"

"It's highly doubtful; after all, she'll be preoccupied with her new friend as well." Takashi stated and pointed at the couple in the back of the boat.

Kasumi realized what he hinted at and nodded. "Well a few days can't hurt, right? Well, I'll think about it. Okay, Taka-kun?"

"Hmm, alright then, I'll hold it to you." Takashi crossed his arms and nodded in satisfaction.

After that, the remainder of the ride was quiet and peaceful. When the ship boarded back in Japan, the vacationers had gotten off and said their farewells and went on their ways.

* * *

><p>That night, in the headquarters, with Zell and Maria, the two stood on the roof and were discussing the current situation.<p>

"Zell how was the reconnaissance on the island?" Maria asked, her gaze never left the streets below.

"It was not without producing fruit, but Zack didn't know anything of it. I encountered both Ayane and Kasumi, and came across another of the experiments…" Zell stated, with his hand cupped on his chin.

"Hmm… I see. I want you to go to the Mugen Tenshin Village, and meet with Ayane, and Hayate." Maria stated bluntly and turned her almond eyes toward the wolf boy.

"Understood, but where is it? I don't know the location." Zell replied and walked past Maria.

A hawk landed silently on Maria's shoulder and she put a small letter in the pouch on its leg and it flew off once more without making a sound. "I'll have someone to escort you. After all, he is the one who requested the mission…"

* * *

><p>In the Mugen Tenshin Village, Ayane had just made her return when she was approached by Hayate, who seemed especially concerned with her absence for the past two weeks.<p>

He caught word of her arrival shortly after she had placed all of her things back in her quarters and she was once again in her ninja garb. The two heads met at the small creek and the interrogation began.

"Ayane, where were you?" Hayate asked, a silent anger was in his eyes as he peered into Ayane.

"You had been missing, so I set out to find you, Master Hayate." Ayane replied simply, trying her best to not be intimidated by her idol and older brother.

"I had returned to the news that you had disappeared. I looked everywhere for you. I feared that you could have been killed…" Hayate snapped back at his little sister. "If another event like this is to occur, then you'll be branded a traitor alongside Kasumi…" He became silent and dropped his head and let this statement hang in the air, but that was broken by a hawk landing on his shoulder, a letter was hanging from a pouch, apparently addressed to him.

Ayane's eyes grew wide at the sight of the hawk and at how Hayate's eyes quickly changed from the two subjects. _"If I get branded as a traitor, then how am I supposed to prove that I'm better than that impudent princess!_" Ayane gritted her teeth and looked down remorsefully. Her hunt would begin anew, with a new fire in seven days.

"…You may leave now, Ayane…" Hayate stated softly and turned his back.

Ayane was snapped out of her thought as Hayate's voice entered her mind; she shifted for a second, and then disappeared in a cloud of iris petals.

"So, now the hired hand needs to enter the village…" Hayate cupped his chin and sighed shortly afterward, feeling his unease return as he knew the risks of helping another rogue ninja within his clan. If this plan failed, then it would mean his life.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – A Close Call**

Zell sat in his room and lay on his bed. His arms were behind his head and he stared at the bleak white ceiling that, unlike the others, stayed as its original colors.

Zell sighed and closed his eyes. "So the next phase is to…"

Suddenly there was a sharp ringing noise in his ear, he winced at the sudden sound being so close in his ear, and being in a silent area as small as this didn't help it either. "Zell, hurry and get your gear on. Kasumi's under attack!"

The boy's eyes widened in shock. _"But Ayane said she'd give Kasumi a week… Maybe it was another platoon…"_

Zell hopped from his bed and his body had become engulfed in flames for a brief moment, then when the fires had dissipated he was in a red and black armored shinobi suit, that had three lines of kunai on each black forearm's armored sleeve, on his legs were black metal armor shin guards, and there was a black chestplate that was made with the same metal as the armguards and shin guards and he had a long flowing red scarf on his neck that covered his nose and mouth and extended to the floor.

When Zell arrived in the Superior's room, she was staring intently at a screen that had a series of ten moving blips on it. One blip was white while the others were red. She turned to Zell and pointed in the direction of the screen and a city's name was blinking. It was Maeboshi. He gave a nod then a small circle of tiny embers was left where he was standing a split second before.

In the forest near Maeboshi, Kasumi was being chased by nine ninja, all of which were usually under Ayane's command, but she couldn't sense Ayane's energy at all. She grew more uneasy with each passing second, the ninja were gaining steadily and Kasumi was already injured several hours before, when a kunai grazed her back, but it missed her spine by a few centimeters, and another kunai had tore the skin of her right thigh a few hundred seconds after that.

The wounded kunoichi gave a strained leap into a taller tree, where she would be able to have some leeway. She swung from the tallest branch she could find and flew through the night air to avoid becoming a pin cushion. She landed hard on the injured body part and dropped onto the forested floor, blood began to spill from the cut in her leg, and then the ninja in pursuit had surrounded her, they all were ready to give the final blow, but they paused as Kasumi's eyes grew large with fear. The ninja all raised their blades, but they were stopped by the sound of a male's voice calling out into the forest.

"Hey! Is there anyone out here?" the voice called, it sounded familiar, but it wasn't who she was expecting.

"Retreat! The guy is too close now." The ninja in charge stated and allowed Kasumi another day of life.

"Hellooooooooo?" The voice called again then moved more so he was in Kasumi's eyesight, but she wasn't in his.

Kasumi let out a soft whimper as she felt the pangs of pain once more in her thigh as she tried to stand, rustling all of the possible leaves and tall greenery that was in her vicinity. She staggered and her back hit a tree, then she gave another cry of pain, apparently the adrenalin finally died down, the injuries were now taking effect. Her savior heard all of the commotion and rushed in a bit faster after hearing her cries of pain and kneeled down to see his target a bit better.

"Kasumi… Are you alright? Did I make it in time?" The voice now had a face, it was Zell, and he had come to her aid.

She couldn't speak, but she gave a weak nod; apparently she was hit by a few poisonous kunai. Zell picked the kunoichi up and held her bridal style as he exited the forest, trying to get into some actual light to treat the few vital wounds that she had. Zell had made it to the outskirts of the town where he received a few suspicious glances at the limp female body that was in his arms.

Wanting to avoid more problems, Zell quickly made his way to a fire escape and climbed it effortlessly, given the fact he had 48kg of unconscious female ninja in his arms, and picked the lock of the nearest door he could find and crept in with all of the swiftness and stealth of a shinobi.

He quickly located the resident's bathroom and took the kunoichi inside, where he flicked the light switch and gently place the delicate body in the tub.

Zell turned her over, looking for more wounds, "Damn, these guys are not joking… Luckily she avoided it hitting her spine. She would've been paralyzed for real…" He held his palm over her back.

"Here we go…" Zell mumbled and the hour and minute hands of a clock appeared and began to turn counterclockwise, as if to turn back time itself, and the injury that grazed Kasumi's back began to sew itself up slowly, and a green stream had been absorbed into the clock as well. After her back was healed, he turned her back over and looked her frail body over once again.

"How does she remain so delicate?" Zell asked himself in a soft murmur, then spotted the bleeding thigh and sighed, knowing what would happen if the situation were to get out of hand.

"No one will know about this… I hope…" he sighed and held his fingers together and slowly ran them across the cut in Kasumi's thigh, another pair of hour and minute hands appeared and she gave a soft content sigh as he finished mending the wound.

"Well, I managed to get most oof the poison out, so she won't die."

The bathroom door clicked and the handle began to turn, this startled Zell, It was about two in the morning. No one should have been awake at this time, or at least that's what he thought. The door opened and Zell sighed and held a charcoal black katana at the door, his eyes still scanning Kasumi's form the entire time.

"Whoa! Chill dude! Aw jeez, I think I just crapped myself!" A boy with glasses exclaimed as he opened the door to see the blade in his face and subsequently someone else came onto the scene.

"Yo, Daichi, bro what're you-!" The new voice called as he came into the scene.

"Holy-! Zell? I-is that K-Kasumi?" Takashi's eyes grew wide with shock at the sudden invasion, but more so due to the people who were in his presence.

Zell stood slowly and shouldered his blade, the red scarf covering his mouth and nose; he pulled it so that his mouth was now exposed. "Well glad to see that she will get her wish." He stated calmly and slid the katana into its sheath.

Daichi sat wide eyes and gaping at the person before him and the sleeping babe in the tub. "! Th-that's her! IT'S really Her! Holy shit, wait til the guys hear about this-!" Daichi started squealing like a deranged fanboy and hopping up and down on each leg respectively and clapping his hands together rapidly.

"Dude, cool it. If I tell the guys about this, then you'll lose the rest of your 'guy points'." Takashi stated dryly and folded his arms.

"I treated her wounds, and the poison hadn't set in too much, so she'll be fine. A little sore, but you can help her with that, right?" Zell stated and pushed Daichi into the wall as he made his way out.

"Oh, and tell her that she owes me one." Zell smirked a bit and disappeared.

There was a silence that hung over the area, "Dude, who the HELL was that guy!" Daichi asked as he peeked from the side of the door at Takashi and watched him approach Kasumi's sleeping figure.

"Damn, she smells like blood and wet trees… She was attacked… but didn't Ayane say she was giving her a week?" Takashi mumbled to himself then looked to his friend.

"uh, What do I need to do, bro?" Daichi went back into serious mode and awaited orders from his pal.

"Go in my mom's room and find some pajamas for her…" Takashi's face got red after he realized what he would be doing.

"G-got it… Can I help you undress her?" Daichi gave a devilish grin before he left to do what was asked of him.

"NO! Tch… little perv…" Takashi growled a bit at how the night was going, but gave an awkward smile shortly afterward. "She won't kill me for seeing her in her underwear… right?" Takashi mumbled to himself slightly.

Then following day, at the headquarters, Zell sighed and stared blankly out of the window of the Superior's office. She entered the room with a small porcelain tea set that looked to be about a hundred twenty-five years old, but at the same time was as if it had just been purchased.

Zell was dressed in more street-esque attire, donning a black down jacket, a red t-shirt, black carpenter's pants and a pair of red and black gym shoes. He let out a soft sigh and began to mull over his little rescue last night, and hoped that he made the right decision.

"Zell, you did the right thing. She's with a person she trusts so there is nothing more to do regarding her at the moment." Maria spoke softly and placed the tea set on her desk, the soft clinking echoing throughout the office.

"…Thanks Superior… The tea smells nice, is it Chamomile? I hope you did it right…" Zell smirked to himself and turned to his Superior.

"Oh hush. You know I make the best tea here." Maria smiled and poured herself and Zell some in the two small cups.

"Yeah, of course. So is there anything else that's happening?" Zell asked as he turned and walked toward the desk to join her.

"I think Helena is going to be victim of an assassination attempt soon, but you must kill her after the tournament, so you might want to head to the coordinates on this paper after we get done here, okay?"

Zell sighed, "Understood." then he looked at the two teacups, "Can you give me a bit of sugar?"

Maria smiled sweetly at the wolf boy, "Of course. Tell me when to stop."

She gave the wolf boy two teaspoons of sugar and they sat in silence, sipping the tea so tenderly. The silence of her office was one of the few things Zell had liked about her, and he was certain that she knew it, which was why she usually inviting him to be in her presence as she filed most of her work. After about twenty minutes, the two had finished the last of the tea in the pot and Zell pulled a revolver out of his pocket and on the mouth of the gun, a blade had formed. Zell flicked the gun and the revolver chamber opened. He slipped seven bullets in the revolver and snapped it back into place then he opened the door.

"Zell, your target, Christie, is lethal in her style, which uses snake-like attacks. Her hands have various types of poison and she will kill anyone in cold blood with no second thoughts. She is very crafty, so give her no quarter. Teach her a lesson in who she'll be dealing with. That's all."

Zell nodded and departed off to Japan's opera house, where Helena's concert was being held. He spotted a white haired woman taking a stair case to an exclusive area of the opera house, he followed silently and noticed her readying a sniper rifle and she cocked the weapon and aimed it at the stage one time to ensure everything was in place.

After a few silent minutes of watching Christie, Zell had noticed that Helena was vocalizing in the theatre below as the crowd began to floor the stands and watch her coming performance. Zell crept up behind Christie with little trouble.

"Well, well, isn't this something?" Zell asked and quickly got the attention of the veteran assassin.

"Who the hell are you? What is your purpose in being here? Are you trying to interfere in my work?" Christie asked hastily and got into her battle stance.

"Only if you are here for the life of Helena Douglas." Zell stated and pulled out his gunblade and shouldered it.

"Hmph, then you will be one of her guards?" Christie raised an eyebrow at the boy.

Zell raised an eyebrow at the accusation, "Guard? Hell no, I just don't want you taking my kill." and he gave a dark look to her.

"If you have the same goal as I, then why fight?" Christie asked and inched a bit closer to Zell.

"Because, she's gonna be my kill. Not yours, so piss off." Zell almost growled.

"Oh, really, kid? Make me." Christie stated and lunged at Zell the way a snake lunges at its prey.

Zell held his blade up and Christie hit the blade hard, sending Zell back a few inches. She continued her assault and skimmed the cheek of the wolf boy as he leaned to avoid being punctured in the face. He turned around and kicked her and she skidded back and a smirk crossed her face. Zell touched his face and the wound disappeared and the poison was in his hands now. He flicked his revolver's chamber open and a green looking bullet appeared in it. Christie jumped and thrust her hand toward Zell's skull, but missed as he ducked out of harm's way and she hit a painting. Zell slashed her abdomen and pulled the trigger. A burst of green air erupted from the blade as it made contact with her abdomen and the cloud seeped into her wound. She skidded back again and reeled in pain on the floor. He put his blade away and stepped toward the assassin and kicked her so she would roll over and her eyes were dilated temporarily, but she blinked and shot upward. Zell leaned back, no surprise on his face, and spun around so fast that the small bit of air that was present in the area whirled around with him, then he delivered a deftly powerful kick to her back, narrowly missing her spinal chord, the impact of the kick could be heard in the tiny hall the two were in. The blow knocked her unconscious indefinitely as her face came into contact with the railing. She slid slowly onto the ground and lay motionless. Zell stepped past Christie's unmoving person and kicked the sniper rifle over the edge of the balcony, and smirked.

"I hope she didn't leave any prints on that." He turned and left the Opera House.

"Zell, I'm sending the coordinates of the Mugen Tenshin Village to you now. Don your shinobi garb and head over there. Ask to speak with the Master." Maria called in as he began his trip back to HQ.

"Ah, understood." Zell replied and walked northeast from his location and jumped from roof to roof, his red and black ninja armor on and the scarf on his neck was crimson, like his hair._ "But I thought she was gonna give me an escort? Ah whatever..."_

Elsewhere, in the Mugen Tenshin Village, Hayate the current Master of the village sat in his home and before him was a violet clad kunoichi, Ayane. She was on one knee, her head down as he addressed her.

"…So is that all you can recall from this little search? You managed to encounter the… traitor, but failed to capture her, is that correct?" Hayate asked, he sat with his arms and legs folded as he often times would.

"…Y-yes, Master Hayate…" Ayane replied, she was a little hesitant, but the reason why, was unknown.

"Hmm… You are dismissed until further notice." Hayate stated and just as Ayane had left, another ninja had run in.

"Sir! Sir! There's an outsider here!" The ninja panted in a slight panic.

"An outsider? What does this outsider look like?" Hayate asked calmly, in a tone only he could muster up during unnecessary panics, such as this.

"He is dressed in the armor of the Oboro Clan… I thought they were all slaughtered?"

"…They were… perhaps this is an imposter… Send him to me."

"Sir!"

With that there were a few minutes of silence, and then the ninja was accompanied by Zell.

"Sir, as you requested." Then the ninja bowed.

"Very well, as you were." Hayate stated with a nod and the ninja left the area.

Hayate turned to Zell, and eyed him carefully, noticing how his appearance was strikingly similar to Hotsuma's, the final Master of the Oboro Clan. He cupped his chin and established eye contact with the boy, and silence ensued again.

"I am here by order of Maria, my commanding officer. She sends her regards." Zell stated in a low tone, wary of any unwanted listeners, if there were any.

"Ah, I see. So you are the one who has been sent to aid my sister. She never told me you were of the Oboro…" Hayate replied in an equally wary tone.

"I was trained under the late Master Hotsuma, but I'm not Oboro… May I be allowed to retire in the village for the night?" Zell stated and stepped back a bit.

"I'll have to announce that you are the successor of the late Master of the Oboro… perhaps that'll relieve some of the wary eyes upon you here in the village, however, we have no space here, save for the Hajin Mon Sect, I'll have to arrange for you a place to retire. Please wait here." Hayate instructed and departed once again.

When Hayate left the mansion, another ninja male clad in all black appeared. The ninja was the renowned Ryu Hayabusa, the dragon of the Hayabusa clan. Zell was standing with his arms folded and eyes closed, he was fully aware of the man's presence, but chose to say naught. Zell was leaning with his back on one of the many support beams within the home, and seemed to be recalling some information within his mind. Ryu had done a similar position as he waited for his best friend to return.

Hayate reappeared once again, and Ayane had joined him. When her eyes met the 'special guest' she was ecstatic and gave a soft squeal of joy as her wish was coming true. The two shared a brief hug before Hayate stepped in once more.

"So you know him?" Hayate asked and raised a brow.

Ayane looked down bashfully, like a child who was caught stealing cookies from a cookie jar, "Yes, Master… I encountered him when I was looking for you…"

"Ah, I see…" Hayate cupped his chin and eyed Zell slowly.

"Uh, was I not supposed to come across the kunoichi, sir?" Zell asked, feeling a bit of uneasiness sweep over him.

"No, I'm rather glad you did. Please reframe from any funny business. She is still only 16."

Zell's eyes closed and an annoyed expression covered his face, _"Does he really think I'm like that? I'm sure the Superior told him something…"_ Zell let out an agitated sigh, and followed a slightly happier Ayane out of the mansion.

"So he was supposed to be my back up?" Ryu asked his friend, trying to confirm suspicions.

"Well, I wanted him to try to bring Kasumi back into the clan… There is but one other way to do that…" Hayate stated as he closed his eyes and smiled, remembering the loophole that had been found several weeks ago.

"Well now it looks like Ayane will be the one that's happy, not her…" Ryu stated, sounding harsher than he anticipated.

"Well at last Ayane gets someone she deserves. I think she was long overdue for that anyway."

"True, she has done so much for me and this village. It's a shame that they don't seem to appreciate that."

Outside, Ayane was with Zell, the night had just came over the village and she was tired from the day's events as she had a lot to catch up on from being away for two weeks. Hayate and Ryu both watch the lavender kunoichi brighten up as she led the wolf boy through the village and to her home in a more secluded part of the village.

"_I can only hope that the villagers will take him as he is, and not as he appears…" _Hayate sighed as the two teens walked off from view.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 – Problems on Both Ends**

**Zell and Maria are mine, Takashi and his friends goes to Godofmadness43**

Zell followed Ayane through the Mugen Tenshin village, and during their little 'tour' he heard a few people murmuring about him and the female tengu.

"So he's the last of the Oboro clan? Weren't they trying to make an alliance with us?" One bystander whispered, but apparently wasn't quiet enough.

"Yeah, they did, but they were too weak. That's why the got killed by that weak sorcerer." Another bystander whispered in response.

Zell sighed at the insult, but said nothing as he proceeded through ever more.

"And why's he with that demon? Does Master Hayate really distrust him so? That girl is nothing more than a nuisance. A disgrace to us all." One of the female residents mumbled to herself as Ayane walked past.

"How is he the last of the Oboro anyhow? He doesn't even look remotely close to the last Master of that pitiful clan." A fourth bystander gawked.

"Heh, looks like he was an outsider there as well. Typical."

Zell dropped his head and gave another sigh. With this, he pulled his scarf over his mouth and nose once more. He tapped Ayane on the shoulder and she began to guide him a bit faster, knowing that the insults were getting to him as well.

"Well looks like the outcast found a stray dog to occupy her time!" another voice called out, this one mocking both ninja.

"Well it's only appropriate. She wasn't meant to exist and outcasts that steal other clan's appearances don't deserve to exist either." The voice seemed to be in relation to the other as they both sounded similar yet different.

After several minutes of walking and hearing much ridicule, the two arrived in a much quieter part of the village that was set aside of this particular side of the clan, the Hajin Mon Sect. It was rather nice for a side branch of a clan, and the ninja here didn't use biased opinions of people. Ayane was greeted rather nicely upon her arrival and so was Zell, seeing as he was her guest for the night.

Zell followed Ayane into a house that was significantly larger than that of the rest on the homes in the Hajin Mon Sect, but it wasn't as large as the one Hayate resided in.

When the two enter the house, Ayane quickly flicked a few lights on. Zell noticed the inside was just the same as Hayate's and he smiled at the roominess of the house.

"This is a very nice place, Ayane-chan." Zell stated and folded his arms as he looked around the common room.

Ayane smiled and gestured for him to follow her, "Thanks Zell, it was my Master's home not too long ago…" Ayane sighed as she recalled the events that led to her having the house to herself.

"Ah, I see. Please, lead the way." Zell noticed the sadness return, even though there was no direct visual confirmation of it.

Ayane gave a brief tour and layout of the home, and afterward, she stopped in front of on of the guest rooms, where she dropped Zell off and made her way to the master bedroom, which was simply down the hall.

"Well, she certainly has her fair share of hell. Those bastards in the village have no idea of what they mock…" Zell stated as he laid himself on the neatly trimmed and made up bed of his guest room. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling and removed his armor from his ninja garb, but kept his scarf draped on his person.

He looked around the room a bit, and then there was a ringing in his ear. "Zell, how'd the meeting with Hayate go? Have you permission to stay?" Maria asked, checking in like she oftentimes would during important missions such as this one.

"Well, I can stay for one night, but I think that's all that'll be allowed. I'll await his decision tomorrow." Zell stated and let a sigh escape his lips, on that Maria was able to hear clearly.

"What's the matter Zell? Those main branch bastards giving you trouble?" Maria asked; fury was present in her tone, something that wasn't there very often.

"Yeah, but it wasn't toward me. It was toward my Master… I won't repeat the things they said, but they degraded him like he was nothing…" Zell gave another distressed sigh, but this one was more like an angered growl.

"Well… I don't know what to say…" Maria replied in her usual tone, but it seemed apologetic this time.

"Well, try to get Hayate to let me keep Ayane company. We only have two days until she resumes her pursuit of Kasumi…"

"Ah, very well. I'll get on it now. Good night Zell."

"Thanks Superior, good night to you too…"

With that, Zell ended his talk with Maria, and shortly afterwards there was a knock at the door.

"Zell, it's me. Can I come in?" Ayane called from the opposite side of the door.

"Sure, I don't see why not." Zell replied and let his eyes wander around the room.

Ayane entered the room slowly, a childlike bashfulness apparent on her face. She wasn't in her ninja garb this time, perhaps that was the cause of the look. When she had entered completely, she let the door close quietly and noticed Zell was staring at the ceiling.

"… uh, H-how… do I look…?" Ayane spoke rather quietly, her tone suddenly resembling that of Hinata from Naruto.

Zell heard her softened tone and glanced over; his eyes grew wide with surprise. He was looking at Ayane; she was dressed in a kimono that exposed her right leg, up to her thigh. The kimono itself was a light shade of purple, and under it was the lining of a darker tone of purple. The main kimono was adorned with Iris petals on the low right side, and on the top left of the kimono were tiny purple butterflies.

After a moment of silence, Ayane sighed sadly and turned to leave, "ugh… I knew this was a bad idea…"

Then she felt a tap on her shoulder, when she turned around, she bumped into Zell's chest. "You look beautiful, Ayane. I just didn't expect to see you in such a festive piece." He gave her a nice, warm embrace and she retuned it happily, glad that Zell had approved.

However, on a small tree over looking the house, more so the room stood the two ninja, Hayate and Ryu, Hayate seemed infuriated about his baby sister being attracted to an older fellow. He tried to hide the anger, but Ryu saw through it with no effort.

"Why does he trouble you so, my friend?" Ryu asked as he glanced down at the hugging teens.

Hayate gritted his teeth and clenched both fists; he was being an older brother at this point. "That's my sister, my BABY sister… He's nineteen, and she's sixteen… Who knows what they might try to do?"

"Relax my friend. Ayane is responsible enough to take care of herself. She's done it so well after all this time…" Ryu tried to calm his best friend, but to little avail.

"I know that Ryu, but… their both teens, and they both have hormones… You know what that could lead to, right?" Hayate asked, he had a point and the Hayabusa knew it.

"… they both are ninja, and very skilled at what they do. Ayane puts her missions before all else, you know this. And if that boy was trained under Hotsuma and The Shadow, you know he won't try anything like that." Ryu countered, he was ahead now.

"… if he does anything to her… I'll make it so that he'll never see the light of day again…" Hayate growled and began to shake with rage.

"And if you do that, Ayane will go with him and go rogue as well. You'll no longer have any family here in the village, except your parents, and they'll both want Kasumi and Ayane to be with you when they pass on to the next world." Ryu stated calmly and shut Hayate down.

Hayabusa-3, Hayate-1

Hayate sighed in defeat, "You're right… my mother still wants to hope that Kasumi's safe, and desires her safe return. My father does as well… Why does it have to come to this?" Hayate sniffed a bit, knowing that the situation was no longer in his hands, and he was forced to rely on Maria's best agent.

"Well, you have to trust your girlfriend's judgment on this one. I'll go find out where the princess is." Ryu stated and disappeared from the tree.

Hayate looked and assumed that Ryu took the front door, due to the fact that both Ayane and Zell had left the room, hand in hand. He sighed and returned to his own home.

"It's Ryu, Ayane. May I enter?"

"O-of course… What do I owe the honor to, Master Hayabusa?" Ayane opened the door and greeted Ryu with a bow.

"Nothing in particular. I just want to have a word with your boyfriend. I hope that's not any trouble." Ryu replied and bowed as well.

"…I-I'm not her boyfriend, sir." Zell stated and stepped back a little, hoping he wasn't blushing.

"Ah, I see. But there wouldn't be any other reason for Master Ayane to be dressed so festively, as the next celebration isn't for another month or so. Am I right?" Ryu combated Zell's claim easily and Ayane nodded slightly.

"Yes, you're right, Master Ryu. However, there was no ill intent of any kind. I assure you."

Zell's eyes widened, "You seriously think I would try something like that?"

Ryu sighed, "Hayate was a bit uneasy about allowing you to stay with her after he saw her reaction to your appearance… But that's not why I came. I need to know where Kasumi is. I need to make sure she's safe. I'm like her guardian, in a sense." Ryu reasoned.

Zell huffed, "…Fan-fuckin'-tastic…" He folded his arms and gave Ryu a stern look. "She's in Maeboshi, where the ninja almost killed her. If I hadn't been around, then it would have been messy."

Ryu nodded and turned to Ayane. "Don't make this harder for Hayate than it has to be. He doesn't want you hunting her, and he doesn't want either of you to get killed in the process. He's trying to make peace with himself. Getting Kasumi back is the only way to do so."

Ayane was shocked at what she heard. "Wha - what? No, you can't be serious… Master Ryu, what's the meaning of this?"

"…The parents are growing ill. Their last wish is for Kasumi to be back home… Your friend will have to explain the rest. That's why he's here." Ryu stated and vanished after that.

"Start talking. Now." Ayane stated with a fury that was unlike any other she had, not even towards Kasumi. Her arms were crossed and her eyes narrowed.

"Go ahead Zell. It's gonna be hell after this anyways…" He heard Maria say from the earpiece, but ironically, he was thinking the exact same thing.

"Can I tell you in the morning Ayane? I don't want you to be… so mad… when you hear the truth."

Ayane huffed, "Fine. But it better be first thing in the morning." And after that, she stormed off to her room, and slammed the door loudly.

"Great, now I have a whole new set of problems to solve, I just hope Takashi hasn't invited any friends over, or plans to do so tomorrow…" Zell hung his head and left Ayane's home with out a word and went into the surrounding forest for the night, where he could think in peace after being in such a heated moment, here, he decided to write down most of the reasoning for his presence. After he had done so, he left the letter in the kitchen and returned to the base.

Meanwhile, in Maeboshi the following morning, Kasumi woke to the scent of strawberry pancakes and the sound of food being prepared. She rose slowly from the soft queen sized bed and slowly headed down the stairs to see what was going on, and to find out where she was. Her body ached, but she still proceeded anyway.

In the kitchen, Takashi was working on his chef skills, hoping to surprise his kunoichi with a nice breakfast.

"Man, I hope she likes the pancakes… I tried my best on these…" Takashi mumbled to himself as he flipped five pancakes on two plates then turned to see Kasumi sitting at the table, her hair slightly frizzled and the pajamas she had on were wrinkled as if they were just yanked out of a washing machine.

"Whoa… Hey Kasu-chan. How are you feeling today?" Takashi almost dropped both plates of pancakes, but luckily he caught himself before the harm was done.

Kasumi smiled weakly and rubbed her eyes with the sleeves of the pajamas, "It was rough… I was in a lot of pain…" Kasumi whined a little to emphasize her pain, then Takashi remembered Zell's words.

"_She'll be fine, a little sore, but you can help her with that right? Oh, and tell her that she owes me one…"_

Takashi smiled softly at Kasumi, who was starting to wake up a bit more, Kasumi yawned and returned the smile shortly after. "Morning, Taka-kun… How'd I get here?"

"Zell dropped you off. Said you were attacked and poisoned. He found me and told me to take care of you." Takashi stated nonchalantly as he placed a plate in front of Kasumi.

"H-he did? I wonder what else happened… He didn't get hurt because of me did he?" Kasumi asked quietly and quickly, but Takashi still heard her.

"Nope. He looked fine to me. He said that you owe him one too." Takashi replied and gave Kasumi a fork and a small bottle of strawberry syrup.

"What's this?" Kasumi asked, looking at the plate of pancakes in front of her.

"They're strawberry pancakes… My dad used to make 'em for me and my brother when I was little…" Takashi sighed a little and pushed the memory from his mind.

Kasumi said nothing as she looked at Takashi's eyes. By the look of them, he was in pain, but his emotions wouldn't show it. It was all in his eyes, but apparently Kasumi was the only one that could see it. Instead of dwelling on it, she immediately took the syrup and poured a bit on her breakfast and began to eat. Takashi smiled as Kasumi gave a satisfied sigh while eating the food.

"I'm glad you like it."

"Yes, it's rather delicious." Kasumi nodded with a mouthful of pancakes, she resembled a very happy child for a second.

"Good, that means I remembered how to make them." Takashi smiled and put another forkful of pancakes in his mouth. He gulped and washed the remains down with a bit of milk, and then his phone rang.

"Hello?" Takashi spoke into the receiver.

"What's up dude? You busy?" Shun asked on the other side of the line.

"Uh…" Takashi stammered and looked at Kasumi, who was still eating her pancakes happily, "Not really, no. Why?"

"Ok cool. Me and the gang are gonna be over in a bit. Be ready. We're gonna get you a nice babe, ok?" Shun stated, a smirk was in his voice.

"You don't have to do that, Shun." Takashi stated a bit of nervousness was in his voice.

"I know, but I'm gonna do it anyway. See ya in a bit." Shun replied quickly.

"I didn't know you had the day off either…"

"Parents closed up for the day. Sales were real low yesterday…" Shun sighed, "Well anyhow, get ready dude, Today's gonna be awesome."

Takashi hung up the phone when he heard Shun hang up and he sighed.

Kasumi looked up, crumbs all over her face and her mouth was full of the remaining pancakes.

"Well, Kasumi, We'd better get ready. You're gonna meet my friends today…" Takashi sighed and put the dishes in the sink and led Kasumi up to his mother and father's room.

"My mom has some decent clothes… Go on in and see if you like any of them. I'll be taking a shower." Takashi pointed Kasumi to his parents' room and showed her the closet with the ladies clothes in it.

"Why do you still have these clothes? And Where's your brother?" Kasumi asked, her curiosity getting the better of her as she looked through the clothes.

"Well, I don't really know. Just never thought about it I guess… and my brother went missing a while ago, he never came back. My dad's in a coma and my friends and I were working and helping me make the rent for the place. Luckily, dad's savings were still in the bank, so I took out some money and paid the rent for a few months, now I'm trying to put the money back in his account." Takashi stated and closed the door to the room, leaving Kasumi to browse all alone. Shortly after he left, the sound of running water was heard.

Thirty minutes had passed when Takashi exited the shower and dressed himself in some better clothing. He went to check on Kasumi and noticed she wasn't in his parents' room anymore. In fact, she had left it just a clean as it was before she had entered. He then went downstairs and noticed Kasumi, but she wasn't alone. She was with three boys. The tallest one was tanned, had shaggy black hair and a piercing on his left ear as well as some stubble on his chin. His usually tired brown eyes seemed full of energy today though.

"Sh-Shun! What're you doing here so soon?" Takashi asked as he dashed down the stairs. He was glad to see his friends, but terrified of what they may have been trying to do with Kasumi.

"Relax bro. We were just making sure Kasumi-hime was doing okay. Daichi told us that she was out hard last night." Shun replied and waved his friend off.

On the opposite side of Kasumi sat another boy, he had a bowl cut to neaten his light brown hair. He was sitting with a laptop next to him, on the arm of the sofa.

"Yeah, did you guys hear about that bombing out in the ocean six days ago? It's still a hot topic right now."

Daichi, Shun, Kasumi and Takashi all gasped at the same time. "What'd you say, Kenichi?" Takashi managed to ask before the others did.

The boy, Kenichi, replied, "It's all over the internet. Something about a deserted island being bombed at high noon six days ago…" Kenichi stated and showed the group the pictures that were of a flaming Zack Island. Takashi realized what it was and snickered a bit.

'What's so funny Takashi?" Kasumi asked.

"That's what he gets for trying to make a fool out of me and Zell." Takashi wiped a tear from his eye as he finished laughing.

"So Zack's Island was destroyed?" Kasumi asked, a bit of worry was present in her voice.

"Yeah, but Zack got away. I saw his helicopter when we docked back here." Takashi replied, assuring Kasumi that no one died in the explosion.

"So Takashi, tell us about what happened last night." Shun cut in, he was using a tone that dripped of mischief.

"Yeah, tell us. I think Daichi over exaggerated some stuff he told us." Kenichi added as he shut off his laptop and closed it.

"What'd he tell you?" Takashi asked and gave Daichi the 'evil eye'.

"He said that you had to take off some clothing and another ninja came and you did some stuff…" Shun smirked and raised a brow at Takashi and Kasumi, both of which were feeling their cheeks start to burn.

"So did you?" Kenichi asked and turned his attention to the two as well.

"N-no, w-we didn't… the only thing I did was change her clothes into some pajamas so she would be more comfortable. Nothing more." Takashi stammered a bit, trying to make his argument convincing.

"Well, is that what happened Kasumi?" The two guys asked and turned their full attention to her now.

"U-umm… I was unconscious last night, so I wouldn't know. But I trust Takashi, and I know he wouldn't do anything without my consent, right?" Kasumi replied and turned her eyes gently to Takashi and he nodded in compliance.

"That's right, but why would you guys believe him?" Takashi asked and pointed at Daichi, who was near the kitchen door.

"Dunno. I thought it was suspicious, so I figured I'd just get the word straight from the horse's mouth, ya know?" Shun replied and adjusted himself on the sofa so that he had one arm behind Kasumi's shoulder. Silence had ensued for a second.

"I can't believe you guys actually bought that!" Daichi laughed and broke the silence.

"We didn't, just wanted to see if part of it was true. So, I hope you guys are ready for some fun." Shun replied and cracked his knuckles with a grin.

"What about Kasumi? Won't people ask if it's really her or not?" Kenichi asked, bringing a valid point to the table.

"Well, she could always just say that she hears that a lot…" Takashi stated thoughtfully, but shook his head against the idea.

"It doesn't matter. Let's go. We need to have fun. Today's my first day off since I graduated." Shun stated, reminding the group of what he does daily.

"Or Kasumi could give Takashi a kiss." Daichi chimed in, making Kasumi and Takashi blush once again.

"Shut up Daichi, you're making them nervous." Kenichi laughed at the reactions of the two lovebirds.

"I don't think she'd want to do that anyway." Takashi stated a bit above a whisper.

"…A-actually… I would like to do that…" Kasumi gave a soft smile, which with her red cheeks looked even cuter.

"Well there you have it. It would certainly make my day if you two did kiss… on the lips." Shun rose from the sofa and a big grin came across his face.

"What!" Takashi's eyes grew wide, at both the statement from Shun and the one from Kasumi.

"Come on. Just do it. No one's gonna know except us." Shun stated and Kenichi and Daichi commented in agreement.

Takashi looked at Kasumi and she returned his gaze. Kasumi stood and approached Takashi. The room fell silent once again and time seemed to go unnaturally slow. Kasumi looked into Takashi's eyes and he returned the gaze. She wrapped her arms lowly around his neck and she felt his hands slowly creep up to her waist and the two inched closer to one another's faces, then the door bell rang.

"Aw, damn! So close!" Shun snapped his fingers in disappointment.

"Talk about saved by the bell." Kenichi folded his arms.

"Damn, someone's blocking." Daichi added as Takashi left to open the door.

The group heard the door creak open, and then there was a cry, "HOLY SHIT!"

The guys, and Kasumi rushed to see what the problem was, but they were shocked when they got to the door as well.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 – The Forgotten Contest**

At Takashi's door was none other than Tina Armstrong. She was in a tan leather skirt and a mini vest of the same color and fabric. She had a white and gray sleeveless button shirt under the vest, and a black leather belt with a sapphire gemstone on the buckle. She had brown cowboy boots and a cowboy hat with a strap hanging over her back. She gave a great smile and the guys all almost fell over. Kasumi smiled and extended her hand. Tina shook her hand and the two looked at Takashi curiously.

"Hey there Kasumi. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Tina stated with a smile before she returned her hands to her hips and a smug smile on her face, her southern accent was slightly thick.

"Well— I" Kasumi began, but was cut off by Takashi, who was having another of his 'moments'.

"No, no! You're fine!" Takashi stammered over Kasumi.

"And he means that in more ways than one." Shun, Daichi, and Kenichi added in monotone unison.

"Aw that's sweet. Anyhow, I came over to get Takashi for our date today." Tina smiled again and everyone gave a collective gasp.

Takashi became wide eyed at what he heard, "O-o-o-our… d-d-date!" Takashi felt his breath leave him for a second.

"Yeah. You were entered in a contest that said the winner gets to have a date with Tina Armstrong. Remember? It was around last month. Lei fang, Kokoro, Hitomi, and I are the only ones that showed up for it though." Tina reminded the boy.

"Oh, I remember. It was at the rally. Heh, I didn't think I'd win…" Takashi rubbed the back of his head nervously as he caught a weird look from Kasumi.

"Well, Kasumi? Is it okay? I mean, I did want this date for a while… I would have entered the contest for the date with you, but you didn't show up to confirm the contest…" Takashi sighed and looked between the two beautiful women and almost died on the spot.

"…Go ahead. I had you all to myself for two weeks anyway. I think it's only fair that Tina gives what she promised." Kasumi stated and nodded her head in Tina's direction.

"Thanks, Kasumi-chan. I'll be back later. I hope you guys have fun." Takashi smiled and offered Tina his arm, which she took gladly as they departed toward her red sports car.

"Yeah, we know you will." Takashi's friends stated dully again as he left his home.

"Well, looks like our goal is accomplished." Shun stated with a yawn followed by some stretching.

"Yeah. We came over to hook him up, and he'd already beat us to the punch. Lucky lil bastard that one is." Daichi folded his arms and huffed a little.

"Oh well. So guys, what to do about Kasumi-chan?" Kenichi hoisted his laptop holder onto his shoulder and turned to the rogue ninja.

"Oh, no; I'm fine. There is no need to worry about me." Kasumi said shyly and allowed the other guys to leave as well.

After several minutes passed by agonizingly slowly, there was yet another knock at the door. Kasumi opened it to be greeted by her good friend, Ryu.

"How did you find me, Hayabusa-sama?" Kasumi asked, surprise was apparent in her voice and face.

"Well, I am the super ninja, you know. Plus I'm your bodyguard. It wouldn't have looked too good if I'd lost you." Ryu replied with a smug tone.

"Well I suppose so but… I'm fine here. Unless you were followed?" Kasumi knew no one had known where she was, but if Ryu could find her, then Ayane wasn't too far behind.

"No one's gonna know. Not even your brother knows. So Ayane won't be on your tail either. Please, relax. I wish to know how this stay of yours has been." Ryu sensed the fear in Kasumi's eyes.

The nuke-nin took a deep breath before she began to summarize all that had happened to her over the last three weeks.

Meanwhile, in the Mugen Tenshin village, both Zell and Ayane were before Hayate, and he was hoping that none of his suspicions were coming true.

"Well, what have you to say for yourselves?"

"It's my fault, Master Hayate. I meant no harm by it…" Zell stated, trying to avoid any more hostilities, and trying to deal with insults and accusations two days straight wasn't all that easy either.

"I will not approve of any forms of sleeping with the master of the other portion of the clan. You were familiar with these terms correct?" Hayate asked and folded his arms as he looked down upon the crouching forms of the two before him.

"But, brother- I mean, Master Hayate, I was trying to help him calm down and relax. We didn't do anything at all… Especially not after Master Hayabusa had left…" Ayane tried to combat her brother, but she faltered under his gaze like a puppy that was in trouble.

Zell grew tired of his constant dispute with the young Master, and as a result he gave a large sigh and stood defiantly. "Zell? You aren't allowed to stand until we're dismissed." Ayane tried to whisper, but the statement fell on deaf ears.

Zell folded his arms, "I'm dismissing myself. If the 'Master' wants his precious sister back, then He'll have to do it on his own! I'm the one risking my ass to do something that could kill ME!" Zell began to emit an uncharacteristic anger, due to the previous days' ridicule, and the lack of trust from his employer.

"You want Kasumi back so bad then go find her and bring her back yourself! If you don't trust me, or even your own blood's judgment and reasoning then my services aren't needed here." Zell growled and disappeared, leaving small black dying embers in his wake.

Ayane's eyes were filed with disbelief at what just happened, yet she still remained in the one knee position. An awkward silence befell the siblings and nothing but a sigh was heard, and something that resembled sniffling.

"Oh, I just blew it. I seem to have bad luck with those affiliated with the Shadow…" Hayate sighed and dropped his head as he realized how foolish he was to jump to conclusions.

Ayane said nothing, but soft sniffles, something that hadn't occurred in years, were barely heard from her. Hayate looked at his baby sister and noticed her wiping her eyes, her face still looking at the ground all the while. He debated on whether or not it would be a good idea to be with her at the moment, seeing as he was the reason for it in the first place.

"…You shouldn't have done that… I never would have thought that you didn't trust me. Me, the one who always was behind you …" Ayane spoke very softly, her crying still drowned out most of the statement, and then Hayate went to go hug his baby sister.

Atop a building in Maeboshi, Zell stood, a little agitated at what had just happened. "Zell here. I'm quitting that part of the mission. Proceeding to locate the bodyguards…" Zell stated into his earpiece, a bit of fury was in his voice.

"What happened? I thought you were gonna try to get better acquainted with the Tengu?" Maria asked, yet some part of her was glad he left.

"I wanted to, believe me, but the overprotective brother nearly blew a head gasket when he found Ayane was in the bed with me…" Zell huffed and began his trek to the base.

"You didn't…" Maria gasped at what was just said; slightly disappointed that she wasn't going to be his first one.

"We didn't do anything. I just had that nightmare again… Ayane heard me screaming and came in to try to calm me down." Zell stated with a hard huff. His agitation was clear now.

"…Oh… Well, come on back. You have a guest here who's been looking forward to seeing you." Maria was a bit dumbfounded at what Zell had said. True, he was a teen; he did have hormones and thoughts of the like, but apparently everyone seemed to forget that he was always in control of himself.

"Who's there waiting for me?" Zell asked as astonishment was in his tone as he wasn't expecting any visitors.

"You'll see when you get here. Later, Zell." And with that the transmission ended. Zell leapt from one rooftop to another while he became wrapped in a ton of thoughts.

"Well kid, looks like you just broke that girl's heart…" A voice came from inside Zell as he picked up his pace to get to the base; it was his dormant wolf counterpart.

"How would you know?" Zell snapped back in a less than enthusiastic tone.

"I sensed her emotions before you left. She was waiting for someone who was like her, and that nightmare incident last night proved her suspicions. She has a thing for you…" The wolf said in a low tone, suddenly Zell was overcome with something that was like guilt.

"I'll apologize later. I'm sure she won't be too mad at me." With that Zell used his power over time to warp to the base.

When Zell entered Maria's Room, he was surprised to see a Chinese female sitting on her desk. Maria gave Zell a smile and motioned for him to come in.

"Well Zell. I'm sure you know Lei Fang, right? She said you were a most gracious attendant at Zack Island while she was there."

Lei Fang smiled at Zell's reaction, which was a face that was wide with a combination of happiness, confusion and excitement. "Do you remember that contest, the one that said you could win a date with me?"

Zell quickly realized his face and changed it to one that had thoughtfulness on it. "Yes, I do. I didn't think I would have won though…" Zell gave a bashful look, he was glad he'd changed his clothes before he came in now. He had on a black and white two layer shirt and black cargo pants.

Lei Fang gave a small giggle. "Most guys don't. So are you ready to go?"

"Yes, but may I ask what we'll be doing?"

"We're going to double date with Tina and her winner. So its majority is up to her, but I know we'll go to eat last."

Zell offered his hand to Lei Fang and they started out from the base and Maria smirked a bit at how Zell was getting along with the college student.

"So how are your studies?" Zell asked, trying to sound polite.

"They're coming along fine. I've been traveling a bit too." Lei Fang said, and then a sly grin crossed her face.

Zell noticed the grin, "What's that for?"

"I heard from Maria that you were a Tae Kwon Do student. Is this true?"

"Yeah… I'm decent in using it…"

Lei Fang looked him in the eye and smiled again. "Let's go one round before we go out. I wanna see how good you are."

Zell smirked a bit and replied simply, "Not now. I figure if we are with Tina, then her crazy ass father will be trying to make her leave. You'll see then. If not then I'll give you a sparring match when we get done. Deal?" Zell offered his hand.

Lei Fang nodded and shook his hand as well, but quickly put him into a grab maneuver, which he wormed out of in speeds that were ninja like. Zell used the momentum from the grab and shoved her into the wall. He smirked and brought his body to hers as he pinned her on the wall. "You are really eager. I promise I'll give you a good fight. But not until later." He let the Tai Chi prodigy go and she smiled again, for having a worthy opponent.

"I'll hold you to that. We don't want to be late now." She said as she walked past Zell and he stopped to admire her figure, looking at the way she carried herself and at how her dress, a light brown cheongsam, was seemingly made for her frame. He looked for a second before going and keeping pace with her on the way out.

"So when does this date officially start?" Zell asked, noticing that he had a bit of height on her, even in the heels she wore.

"Well, I guess it can start now, if you want… but where would we go?" Lei Fang asked and looked into Zell's eyes.

"Well, I guess we could take a walk in the park until Tina comes…" Zell stated and looked around, trying to avert his gaze from the only other girl in the Dead or Alive Tournaments that he had eyes for.

"I guess we could, but…" Lei Fang added but suddenly a red sports car stopped in front of them.

"Well looks like I made it right on time. Come on, hop in. We've got a long day ahead of us ya know." Tina smiled and opened the rear butterfly doors and Lei Fang entered before Zell.

"Hey Zell, How's things going?" Takashi asked and looked into the rear view mirror to address his friend.

Zell shrugged and replied, "They just got a whole lot better. Seeing as I'm here with the two most powerful women in the Dead or Alive tournament to date."

"Y-you really think so?" Lei Fang asked; her face was flushed with a tiny hint of red at the compliment.

"Gosh, I didn't think of it that way." Tina remarked then took into consideration that she was raised by Bass.

"He's got a point there." Takashi added as Tina drove off to their first stop, which was the Miyamoto Video Arcade.

Meanwhile, in the Mugen Tenshin Dojo, Ayane was preparing to spar with her older brother.

"Ayane, are you sure about this? I won't hold back. You'll have to overcome me using your own skills." Hayate reminded his younger sibling and eased into his ready stance.

"Don't hold back, brother. I would be ashamed if you did. After all, I am the Hajin Mon Sect's Leader." Ayane retorted and got into her battle stance.

Hayate sensed something was stirring within his baby sister, and he was certain that it was due to him forcing Zell to leave.

"Before we start this little spar, I would like to wager." Ayane stated and snapped Hayate out of his pondering.

"State your conditions."

"If I win, you'll tell me where you found the Shadow."

"And what if I win?" Hayate asked with something of a smirk.

"…you get you're wish. I won't try to see him anymore." Ayane sighed heavily at the statement, but steeled herself as Hayate responded.

"Deal."

With that the two ninja charged at each other with fiery intensity. Hayate got in the first few hits; a series of punches to the mid section, Ayane caught the fourth punch and whirled Hayate around and into the ground. Ayane leapt in the air and delivered a hard stomp on her brother before he could recover. Hayate dashed at his sister and grabbed her. His palm impacted her stomach in an angle that sent her into the air. He disappeared in a cloud and reappeared and slammed her neck down onto the mat hard. He stood triumphantly and smirked. He turned to Ayane and the Ayane that was on the floor burst into smoke, Hayate hadn't expected this and was caught off guard. Suddenly the earth rumbled a little and when Hayate turned around, he saw Ayane coming at him with both palms and blasted him with some of her chi, and sent him spiraling into the wall with a loud crash. Hayate struggled to his feet and eased onto a single knee.

"Looks like I win bother." Ayane said in a triumphant tone.

"Very well… A deal's a deal. A ninja never goes back on his word." Hayate sighed and took his baby sister to Maria's base, where Zell was working.

"Oh? To what do I owe the disappointment this time Hayate?" Maria asked in a hardened tone that she rarely used on anyone.

"You know Ayane, right? She wanted to see, um, her _friend_…" Hayate strained himself with the last word, still uneasy about Ayane dating, or even showing interest in an older guy.

"Hmm, you must mean Zell. He left a few hours ago, with Lei Fang." Maria stated casually and noticed Ayane's face change.

"What!"

"Yep, he was pretty upset about the Mugen Tenshin's leader not trusting him. I'm sure Ayane knows what happened." Maria replied casually again, and gestured for Ayane to take a seat before her desk.

"Yeah, I was an idiot, but I was only trying to protect you, Ayane." Hayate sighed and tried to give a real reason for his actions.

"Well, don't jump to conclusions next time." Maria stated harshly then turned to Ayane. "So tell me what happened…"

Later on, with Zell and co. who all were ready to eat, especially after playing five hours of Tekken 6 and singing Karaoke.

"Well guys, this has been the best date ever!" Tina said with an air pound.

Takashi laughed weakly, astounded at how someone could win with King five hundred times in a row. "Well I don't want to disappoint you, Superstar."

"You haven't Taka-kun." Tina winked and spoke with a teasing manner, "But I can't help but feel like my daddy's gonna try to ruin our fun." Tina sighed as she led the group to her sports car.

"Well if he does, Takashi and I'll be able to take him." Zell stated and folded his arms.

"But we'll help you. After all, we both fought him in the tournaments." Lei Fang added as she got into the vehicle.

"So where to?" Takashi asked no one in general.

"They've got this new restaurant, Nomura's Seafood and Chinese Platters. We're gonna go there tonight." Tina replied and had another large smile on her face.

The rest of the ride was quiet, but there was something that Zell had sensed was going to happen. He didn't know what it was, but animal instinct in him was never wrong.

The group of four entered the restaurant and was seated rather quickly, a waitress had come over with menus and beverages, and after a moment of soft murmuring the group placed their orders. Zell had a seafood burger and crab legs, Tina had shrimp and crab legs, Lei Fang had annin tofu and a small pot of ginger tea, and Takashi ordered a small lobster dinner.

The two couples were eating in peaceful happiness, until Zell's head shot up and his eyes were wide. Tina and Lei Fang noticed this and grew a bit uneasy.

"What's the matter Zell?" Lei Fang asked and took advantage of the situation and put her hand on Zell's hand.

"…Move away. Now." Zell directed with precise calmness and as if on cue, the trio of Takashi, Tina, and Lei Fang rolled away, and Zell turned to see a car flying through the window of the restaurant, which he stopped from plowing into the kitchen.

"Holy shit! It's the incredible Bass!" Takashi yelled as he saw a heavy set male with a bandana and shades over his eyes. His goatee was a thin trim and blonde. He was in biker's attire, complete with the leather vest and gloves.

"Just great. Daddy's here." Tina rolled her eyes as her father walked in through the debris he just caused.

"Well, looks like he came for a rematch. I say we give him one." Zell stated and kicked the tiny car back to Bass, who ripped the car in two as it came in contact with his person.

"Tina, why are you doing this? I told you not to sleep with under aged boys!" Bass yelled and his southern accent was as clean as a whistle.

"I'm not gonna sleep with him. I'm just on a date!" Tina yelled, clearly annoyed that her father still wants to keeps her on a leash.

"I'm eighteen you know…" Takashi stated, but no one heard him.

"Just stop this recklessness and come home." Bass tried to sound kind, but his gruff voice did no good.

"Make me." Tina teased and hopped over on of the tables and got ready to fight her father, yet again.

Zell, Takashi, and Lei Fang all accompanied the superstar as her 18-wheeler truck of a father came charging through the area.

"I'll go first." Zell smirked at the gasps he'd received from the rest of the group, but they all stood back to see what he was capable of.

Bass had plowed through three sets of tables, then Zell swept both legs and kicked all 400lbs of pro wrestler into the air. Zell spun four times and gave Bass a hard kick to the ribs and crunching was heard as Bass rolled on the floor.

"Nice one, Zell!" Lei Fang complimented then took the front as Bass stood up like nothing happened.

"Well kid, that was something else, but you'd need a hell of a lot more to do any real damage to a wrestler." Bass got into his stance and charge at the new opponent.

Lei Fang sank and gave a deft kick to the shin; then double palmed the heavy wrestler into the air, where Takashi chimed in to spike with a triple spin axe kick. But yet again Bass still rose like a machine.

"You guys are doin' well, but this is one that'll have to end by my hands." Tina stated and took the front.

Tina grabbed the man that weighed four times her own weight and pulled him into a German suplex and crashed through a table. Bass rose and picked his daughter up and hoisted her on his back ran three steps, jumped and then plowed her through a table and left a small print in the ground of the restaurant.

"Tina! No!" Takashi yelled and without thinking ran at Bass.

Bass turned around and gave a hefty clothesline to the boy, and followed with a full body press onto him. Tina rose slowly, trying to shake the stars that she was beginning to see, and saw her father getting off the ground with a sick smile. Tina gasped and ran to the body, seeing Takashi in a crater was satisfying to Bass, he had hit a nerve within his beloved daughter.

"Damn, that's not gonna be pretty." Zell shook his head as he walked over to Tina's side, glad the Bass hadn't killed Kasumi's boyfriend, yet.

Tina turned and leapt on her father's neck with her legs and used a move that most high flying wrestlers did, by moving snake-like around his person, constantly swinging herself on him, and then she came back to his neck and flipped him with her legs. Bass hit the ground hard and Tina gave a diving elbow, Zell jumped and unleashed a horizontal spinning sideways axe kick, similar to the one Sasuke used to finish the Barrage of Lions, and Bass gave a hard grunt. Takashi moaned as he slowly came to. Tina gave an exasperated sigh of relief, and when she'd turned to face her father once more, he plowed her into the cement wall in the back of the restaurant. He continued his assault with three powerful head butts, and finished with a dropkick that beat her into the wall even further. Bass turned around to see Lei Fang readying an attack, and he simply grabbed her tiny hands and spun once then threw her headfirst into another wall. Lei Fang didn't break the wall, not did she crack her skull, but she was getting dizzy. She rose groggily, only to see a big burly man running at her full speed. Before she had time to react, a streak of red zoomed by and tackled the 400lb man out into the street, what followed after that was the sounds of cars impacting something.

"Wow, this was a free DoA fight." One of the customers remarked with a smile.

"It sure was." Said another customer with a big cheesy smile.

Takashi shook off whatever remaining damage he had sustained and rushed to Tina's side. Tina moaned a bit and held her head, which didn't have any bumps or bruises on it. Takashi sighed when Tina gave him a soft hug and the two walked over to Lei Fang, who was having a major migraine.

Zell was outside and he was swinging Bass around by one of his huge legs, hitting nearby speeding cars and finally threw him into the air. Zell crouched and leapt after the burly body and flipped a few times before pile driving the wrestler's head into the cement. Soon nothing else was heard after the sound of crunching gravel.

"Someone call an ambulance. This guy's done." Zell sighed and shook off what little damage he hadn't reversed and returned inside to see what the damage was to the restaurant.

Tina gave a glance around the area, seeing the destruction her father could cause in such a small amount of time shocked even her. "Oh my gosh. I'll have to pay for these damages…" Tina sighed and pulled out a wallet as the manager came to greet her.

"Ms. Armstrong? Are you okay?" The manager asked

"Oh, I'm fine. My daddy and I do this all the time. I hope this covers the damages." Tina replied with a nonchalant wave of her hand, then fished out 100,000 in cash and gave it to the manager and turned to leave.

"I hope this wasn't too rough on you, boys." Tina asked as she opened the doors of her car.

"No, but are you sure you two will be okay? Bass is a big guy." Takashi replied, a bit of pain still rang through his mind.

"We've both had bigger problems than Bass. We'll be fine." Lei Fang chimed in, her voice hinted at her immense headache though.

"If you say so… Sorry this turned out to be such a bust." Zell added with a sigh as Tina skidded off back to the base to drop Zell off.

Zell waved good-bye to the red car and turned to enter the base. Before anyone could react or say anything, Lei Fang quickly got out and whirled Zell around and into her arms.

"It wasn't a bust. I really enjoyed myself, even if Tina's dad screwed the meal up. I still liked having someone else around. Thanks." With that Lei Fang gave Zell a quick peck very close to the lips and returned to the car.

When he got to Maria's office, he was surprised at who he saw there.

Ayane walked up to Zell and gave him a once over. "What happened to you? You look like you were hit by a truck… And what was that just now?" Ayane pointed to the red car that had just drove off into the distance. It was obvious that she was referring to what Lei Fang had just done.

Zell sighed, "If only you knew…"

Ayane dismissed the comment and hugged Zell affectionately. Zell gave the hug back and for a second they were unaware of their two watchers. "Ok, Enough with the mushy crap. The leader has something to say to you Zell." Maria stated and returned things back to normal for a second.

Hayate cleared his throat and reluctantly walked to Zell. He kneeled on one knee, "Zell, please reconsider your abortion of the request I have laid upon you, for my misjudgment seemed out of place. I was unaware of your 'situation' until recently. Please continue to make my baby sister happy, and help me to return my little sister back to her home."

Zell said nothing for a second; he had to process what had just happened. After a moment of silence, he turned to Ayane, who was resting her head on his arm, had a small smile again, and when he looked her in the eyes, he noticed a pleading sense. "…Very well, but only if Ayane and I can do whatever we want."

"Of course, but so long as it's within reason, I shall approve." Hayate nodded and stood up to face Zell, noticing he had about an inch over the bronzed boy.

Ayane gave a small cheer and hugged Zell once more. He hugged her back, and the three; Hayate, Ayane, and Zell, Departed back to the Mugen Tenshin Village once more.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 – Resuming Work**

This night, the moon was full and high, at its peak as it shined its soft light on the Mugen Tenshin Hajin Mon Sect. Ayane sighed softly and she made her way to where her foster father's final resting place was. She was dressed in a kimono that was black and leg warmers on her feet. The walk itself was rather peaceful and soothing, the strange night air was cool and each deep intake relaxed her senses more, and as the soft winds blew over her, she gave a glance to the moon and entered the tiny valley where Genra was put to rest. His mask was in her hands as she crept across the empty field's soft soil. There was a small shrine on the opposite side. She slowly made her way there.

"Well, Master… I hope you can rest a bit easier now. I've found someone who seems to care for me… I don't think he's like the people you told me about, but I'll be sure to keep my guard up as much as I can." Ayane whispered to the mask that was in her hands.

The wind brushed against the bangs that covered the kunoichi's eyebrows, and for a split instant there was a spiritual image of Genra, he was without his mask, but his arms were crossed, he had his arms folded in a manner that most men of her village usually had. His face was more content this time, as opposed to the tiny hint of concern that he'd shown the last time she'd come to pay his grave a visit. The spirit of Genra approached the Hajin Mon leader and she lowered her head in response. The spirit placed a hand under her chin and tilted her head so that she could see his eyes. He smiled and gave a nod of approval, and then followed up with a soft hug, the kind fathers are supposed to give to their children after a hard day of work or school or after many hardships to show that things will be better. Despite the hug coming from a spiritual being, the hug still had the warming effects that it would have had if Genra were still alive. The sense of security and fatherly love warmed her otherwise cool body. After a moment, Genra faded and a tiny drop came from Ayane's left eye. She sniffled to put more coming tears at bay and wiped the one that had just appeared from her face with the back of the corresponding hand.

"I miss you so much… I wish it hadn't had to come down to that…" Ayane looked up to the sky once more and closed her eyes and gave a long exhale form her nostrils.

As the lavender haired kunoichi stared at the sky, small petals began to fall from the trees nearby. Ayane turned and followed a stray petal to a figure that she easily recognized. The kunoichi gave a nod to the figure, and he revealed himself.

"So this is where you put him to rest?" Zell asked and wrapped his arms gently around his kunoichi.

Ayane smiled and snuggled herself in his arms a bit more. "Yeah. It was the place he'd often take me to when I was little."

"I see. Someplace where you can always feel his presence." Zell nodded gently and looked around the tiny valley-like area, then looked at Ayane.

Ayane returned his glance, and the wind blew which caused her to shiver slightly. "Let's get back. I have a few things that need to be tended to in the morning."

Zell nodded and gave the Hajin Mon leader a squeeze, causing her to yelp for a brief moment, and giggle soon afterward. Zell hoisted Ayane into his arms, bridal style, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

"I hope you don't mind being chauffeured back to your home." Zell smiled and nuzzled with Ayane, and then he began to proceed to Ayane's home.

"No, I don't mind at all. Please do, but be sure to take your time."

"Of course. So Ayane…" Zell gave a serious look and tone.

Ayane, sensing something amiss, asked softly, "What is it Zell?"

Zell took a deep breath, and then released it in the form of a sigh, "You start hunting Kasumi again tomorrow, right?"

Ayane paused before she said anything, "Yes, why? Is there a problem?"

"There is, because I need her alive."

"Well, then… you'll just have to keep me off her trail. It's not that hard is it?" Ayane stated matter-of-factly, as she was completely aware of their two opposing missions, which were ironically given by the same person.

"You make it seem like it's not a big deal."

"Because it isn't, not really anyway, but I can see why you sound sad about it."

"You get really aggressive when it comes to her. Has it ever occurred to you what it would be like to be hunted every day?"

"Yes. I want her to feel hated just like I did, and still do."

"You shouldn't be so mean to her. Didn't you have fun with her on the Island?"

"Yeah, it kinda made me want things back the way they were before I found about my Father." Ayane looked away with disgust as she said the word 'father'.

"Hayate told me how you got along so well with her when you were both children. Maybe you should help me bring her back. That way, she'll have to live with you."

"It won't work like that for me. If I help her, then I'll be a traitor as well. That'll destroy everything I worked so hard for."

"Ayane, listen, she's your family. Your mother's going to die soon, and she only wants you to be with your sister again. She knows that when she and Shiden die, Hayate and Kasumi will be your only family. It's tearing your brother apart to see you so willing to hunt your sister." Zell almost sounded as if he were pleading as he rounded the way to her house.

"I don't necessarily like it either, but it's what the village asks of me, so I'll do it." Ayane stated with a shrug of the shoulders.

"You'd jump off a cliff if the village wanted you to?" Zell asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I wouldn't." Ayane replied and narrowed her eyes at Zell.

"Then wouldn't you be called a traitor for not complying with the village's wishes?" Zell asked, knowing he had a point this time.

"…Uh… I suppose I would, but…" Ayane was at a loss for words. She couldn't think of anything else to defend her opinion at this time.

"Then you'll be a traitor with your sister, so why not just join the party now?"

Ayane froze at what she'd just heard, but continued on anyway. " No, she betrayed the village, and the Phoenix did the same."

"He did not. He was trying to find a cure for his sickly son. I know that feeling because it happened to me." Zell almost let anger erupt in his words, but quickly stopped that from happening by shutting his eyes tightly for a second and allowing Ayane to stand on her own feet.

"…Oh, right. Sorry." Ayane remembered Zell's particular reason for his defense of Takashi's father just now, as he's lost someone who was doing the same for him.

The couple arrived at the front doors of Ayane's home, and Zell allowed the female tengu to walk inside on her own. She looked back at Zell and asked softly and sadly, "Are you coming to bed with me?"

Zell looked a bit distraught and shook his head, "I'm sorry, but I have to check on your sister. I'll see you in the morning."

Zell turned and took three steps before tiny sparks of fire appeared; he disappeared as they fell to the ground. Ayane let her doors close then face palmed. "Oh, I'm such an idiot for that!"

Meanwhile, at Takashi's place, Kasumi had decided to try to predict Takashi's future. All of her predictions seemed to avoid his love life however.

"Come on, Kasu-chan! Tell me if I'll be with someone soon! Please!" Takashi begged the nuke-nin for the ten thousandth time.

"Okay, okay… Here goes nothing…" Kasumi sighed as she took Takashi's palm again and gently traced over the lines within.

"Well? What does it say?" Takashi asked as excitement surged through his body.

Kasumi's face turned a bright red and lowered her head so that her hair hid her face as she tried to speak, "…Uh… Y-you'll have, uh… two children and they'll be very happy with you and your wife…"

"Anything else? There has to be more to it, right? Although that wasn't the answer I was really aiming for…"

"Like what? What are you looking for me to tell you?" Kasumi asked and tried to give as much innocence as she could muster in her words.

"Like the lucky lady's name of course! So tell me, please. What's her name?" Takashi pulled his hand away and folded his arms expectantly.

Kasumi stammered again as she eyed the Kaido boy. "Well, she's a redhead, and she's really nice and great with kids."

"Really? That's cool. At least she won't have trouble with the two…" Takashi seemed satisfied with Kasumi's answer.

There was a knock at the door at this point.

"I'll get it Taka-kun." Kasumi called quickly and dashed off before Takashi could protest.

"It's Zell, he can come in, right?" Kasumi called from the door.

"Yeah, Always! Bring him in."

"Thanks Kasumi." Zell gave the nuke-nin a pat on the back as he entered Takashi's home.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Zell stated as he entered the living room and sat on the sofa, then propping his chin on his arm on the arm rest.

""Nope. Not a thing. We were just… talking." Kasumi replied and returned to the kitchen with Takashi.

"That's nice. Has anyone seen you here Kasumi? Like any ninja from your clan, in particular?" Zell asked with a soft urgency in his voice.

"None from the clan, nope." Kasumi gave a cheery reply and returned to her tea that had cooled considerably due to the hobby of hers.

"I suspect Hayabusa-san has paid you a visit though, right?" Zell asked and turned to the pair briefly then let out a yawn.

"Yes. He came by shortly after Taka-kun left with that American Cowgirl." Kasumi replied with a bitter tone.

"I thought you liked Tina, Kasu-chan?" Takashi asked, slightly nervous about the change in the innocent girl.

"Aw look, she's jealous. It's all over her face. She just didn't want you to know it Takashi." Zell looked up and chimed in; hitting the nail on the head, and Kasumi blushed again.

Takashi looked dumbfounded for a second as he processed what Zell had meant, "You were jealous of Tina for going out with me? Why?"

Kasumi looked down, she was obviously ashamed of her actions. "I want to be able to have a good time with you outside of your home, and show you a good time like she was able to do… but that'll never come to pass. I've realized that now."

"Someone has some explaining to do. See ya Taka-bro. I'll be in touch, okay?" Zell added one last time before using the ninja patented technique of teleportation.

"Well Kasumi? What's going on?"

"We can't be together as long as I'm being hunted. It puts you at too much of a risk. I don't want you to get hurt because of my presence…" Kasumi's eyes welled with tears, so she lowered her head.

"I can hold my own against a few ninja, Kasumi. There is nothing you need to worry about." Takashi stated, a tiny hint of confidence was in the words just spoken, and he went over to the runaway and cradled her face with his hands.

"I worry more about what Ayane will try to do to you… She is almost as strong as Ryu and Hayate…"

"Well given the fact that she has been training with the both of them, I don't see how she wouldn't be, but there are more important things that need attention. First of all, I won't let her kill you. Secondly, she won't kill me unless she has an army of ninja at her command." Takashi's eyes burned a bit and a white flame burned deep within them.

Kasumi looked at the boy with slight puzzlement in her face, but it was soon dissolved as she gave him a hug out of gratitude.

"Thank you Taka-kun… I hope it won't come to that any time soon though…"

"No worries. Now let's get some sleep. Okay?" Takashi replied more calmly than he had before and guided the young runaway to his parents' room.

Kasumi stopped at the doorway and turned to the boy once again.

"Um, Takashi? May I sleep with you tonight?" Kasumi gave a bashful look and a timid smile.

Takashi wore a dumbfounded look for a second as he processed the inquiry, "…I, uh… I don't see why not… Sure you can."

"Yay! Thanks Takashi… I don't know why, but I feel a bit safer when you're around…"

"I don't know either, but we should be getting to sleep now… We have stuff to do in the morning you know…" Takashi let out a soft yawn as he led Kasumi to his room.

"Right. Good night Takashi…" Kasumi called before deciding to turn in for the night.

Takashi followed and whispered 'Good night' to Kasumi as he shuffled into the covers right next to the warm body of the girl he dreamt about the most.

The following day, in the Mugen Tenshin Village, Ayane made her way to Hayate's home in the main section of the village, and she had a little girl following her.

Ayane stopped and turned to the little girl and folded her arms in an agitated manner, "What do you want?"

"Ayane-san, I was wondering if you would be nice enough to tell me what you did to get those." The little girl pointed at Ayane's chest, which caught a few admirable/perverted glances from the guys that were walking by.

Ayane felt her face go red and she had a bashful look on her face, "Uh, well…" She rubbed the bottom of her chin and looked away shyly.

"I can't really say…" Ayane finally stated after a long pause.

"Well, how do you stay so trim, Ayane-san? My mom's getting kinda fat again, and I don't wanna end up like that." The little girl shook her head and sighed at the thought of being a plump turkey.

"Well, I usually train in the forest for a few hours in the mornings, and after that I eat a nice breakfast and bathe… Then I would spar and practice my techniques… You should try that and see what it gets you." Ayane smirked and turned away to resume her walk to Hayate's.

"One last question!" The little girl dashed behind the female tengu to stop her once again.

"What is it this time?" Ayane snapped, obviously annoyed at this point.

"Where's that brown guy with the red hair? I thought you two were dating?"

Ayane's eyes grew wide and she recoiled as if she were just hit, "He… He, uh…" Ayane shut her eyes tightly, and gave a mental prayer that Zell wouldn't leave her. "He went to… get some things from the forest for me…"

"Oh… My mom said that he left you last night and that he was just trying to get in your panties." The little girl giggled and dashed off after she saw the reddened face of the lavender kunoichi.

"Grr! That's it! I'm sick of these bastards judging me!" Ayane snapped back to her original position and rammed into the chest of someone.

"If you know what's good for you, you'd…" Ayane threatened, and as she looked to who she'd bumped into she changed her tone fairly quickly, "Z-Zell!"

The scarlet haired boy gave his kunoichi a hug and nuzzled noses with her. "You shouldn't let the words of the villagers get to you."

"I know, but I'm supposed to be the leader, but I barely get any respect around here…" Ayane sighed and lowered her head, "Zell, if I run away… Will you still be with me?"

Zell gave a confused look to the tengu, "What do you mean? I don't follow."

Ayane lowered her voice now so only Zell could hear her, "I've thought about what you said… maybe I should runaway…"

"And let these bastards win? Well I guess you've met the end of your rope… I'll talk to Hayate and see if I can get you outta here for a nice night on the town. Okay?" Zell replied and wrapped an arm around Ayane, then he pulled her close to him.

Ayane smiled and looked into his eyes, "I'd like that, but where would we go?"

Zell smirked and began to lead Ayane to Hayte's home, "I'll have you with me. Would you really need to go anywhere else?"

A giggle escaped Ayane's lips and she nodded, "No, I wouldn't. I want to have a real date though, you know? Like dinner and a movie or something."

"Sure thing. I'll make sure you get your wish." Zell smirked and opened the door to Hayate's home and Ayane quickly bowed and awaited her brother's directives, whereas Zell simply stood and folded his arms.

"To what do I owe the visit you two?" Hayate called from the second floor as he began to proceed down to meet the two.

"I came to inform you that I'll resume my hunt shortly. Is there any information on her whereabouts?" Ayane stated firmly.

"Well not as of lately. I assume she's been in hiding ever since the incident upon your return…" Hayate replied warily and eyed Zell, who shook his head to say 'no.'

"Very well, Onee-sama, I'll check her last known location."

"Understood, stand and face me now."

Ayane stood and eyed her older brother as he looked at her and studied her eyes intently.

"There is more than just that… isn't there?" Hayate stated and sensed the immense pain within Ayane's eyes.

She sighed and turned away, tears formed in her eyes and she went to Zell's arms. "I've had all I can take. I'm tired of being looked down upon by those stupid villagers…"

Zell realized what she was referring to, and allowed her to bury her face in his arms. "Ayane… I'm sure that little girl meant no harm by the questions…"

Ayane sighed and looked into his eyes, "It wasn't her questions. She made a remark about you trying to have sex with me."

Hayate's eyes grew wide at this statement, while Zell simply closed his eyes and one of his brows twitched a few times.

"…Hayate, We'll be going now." Zell stated, hoping he wasn't sounding too rude, but now he just needed to get Ayane from her prison for a moment.

"Understood, good luck you two." Hayate called out as the two left in a flurry of purple Iris petals, and red sparks of flames.

In the forest outside of the Mugen Tenshin Village, Ayane and Zell were walking among the trunks of the tall trees; the light from the sun had been able to only ripple through the small spots within the trees that weren't covered by the leaves. Ayane looked to Zell, but she hadn't said a thing.

"So, how are you going to go about the hunt this time?" Zell asked in a soft manner as he approached Ayane's side.

"The family has a home in the city where Kasumi escaped to, so I was gonna set up there and search the city for a few days to see if I could get any clues." Ayane replied with a thoughtful tone and stance as she walked.

"Hm… Well I hope you won't mind having any company. After all, I do believe I promised you a date."

Ayane gave a small giggle before she replied, "…Actually, I'd enjoy having you as company."

Zell nuzzled noses with her and smiled, and then his earpiece rang. "Zell here, what's the update."

"Turns out that the Mugne Tehshin ninja did leave a mark on DoATec… Donovan and Douglas just held a press conference stating that they will be sending out invations by way of a preliminary battle. I have a feeling that the ones giving out the invitations will fight to kill." Maria stated on the other end, worry filled her voice.

"And so the delivery crew will be the zodiac kids I assume?" Zell replied calmly, the mention of the zodiacs shocked Ayane, but she kept it to herself.

"It's quite possible. Be careful, but remember, you need to kill them all. Remember, there are twelve of them, but ten remain loyal to DoA TEC and the tournament is to resume after the invitations have been received…"

"Hmm… Well, looks like things just got a bit more interesting." Zell gave an evil grin and cut off the transmission with his superior.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – The First Invitation: Clash with the Past

"Ayane, don't you think you'll need to change your clothes before we get out of the forest?"

"Of course, but I don't want to be behind schedule. So I'll just change after we get to the checkpoint."

It was after high noon at this point, and the two ninja had been walking all morning. Ayane was still rattled a bit about her encounter with the little girl from before she'd met with Hayate to continue her mission. Zell accompanied Ayane and was going to make sure that she wasn't going to kill his primary target, Kasumi. The checkpoint that Ayane spoke of was a small cabin near the city, it was about ¾ of the way out, and in turn was ¼ of the way if one was going into the forest.

"…Okay, here we are. Z-kun, would you mind waiting out here for me?" Ayane gave a small wink to the wolf boy and disappeared into the cabin shortly thereafter.

"Yeah, I'll be here when you come out." Zell replied with a soft smile as he watched the lavender Kunoichi disappear into the cabin.

After about five minutes, there was a rustling in the nearby leaves, Zell sensed something that held immense power, "Come out. I know you're there."

Out from the bush was a young woman who looked to be twenty years old, she had the grotesque limbs of a lizard, her left arm and leg were a gold color and she had a tail, and her tanned skin seemed to accentuate the color further. Her face was human, save for her eyes, and looked like she could have been on the cover of a fashion magazine, but her eyes were gold and catlike. "Well, look who's here. I though you were supposed to be dead." She spoke in a smooth voice and held a thick Russian accent.

Zell looked at the woman and his eyes held the same slit pupils, but his red eyes glowed neon red and fire emanated from his feet. "Itsuki? How did you know where I was?" his scarf flowed in the blowing wind and the flames climbed to his shins.

"Well dog boy, there is much I know about you. Or have you forgotten that we were such a close pair?" Itsuki had brushed her long hair back behind her ears as she approached the defensive wolf.

Zell took two steps back, "That was a lie and you know it. You only did those things to try to control me… You were never my friend, just a great liar." he growled and got into a low stance with his hand on the hilt of his weapon.

"That was not entirely true. I did really mean all of those things I said to you, every word of every sentence." Itsuki smirked and fished out an envelope from her pocket.

Zell kept his eyes on the girl and she smiled a twisted smile when the cabin doors creaked open. Ayane, now dressed in a pair of fitted jeans and navy blue t-shirt with fishnet gloves, glared at the oddity that was Itsuki. The two females eyed each other for a time before anyone spoke.

"Well well… A nice catch you have here my dear. You should consider yourself lucky to have him… truly a good one, yes…" Itsuki smiled again and pointed to Zell and extending her tongue to her finger and licked it.

"Zell, what's this thing? You know her?" Ayane asked and got into her battle stance, with her weapon in hand.

"…She was a…" Zell started reluctantly, only to have The Dragon Zodiac finish.

"I was his first friend and lover; we did every thing together… I even took the only thing that can't be restored from him as well…"

Ayane looked puzzled for a second, not fully aware of what the Dragon had said, "…the only thing that can't be restored…?"

"Stop lying. You never had enough alone time to get that close." Zell stated and unsheathed his black katana, which was now as long as Sephiroth's and had red symbols glowing faintly on the blade.

Ayane got the hint and gave a disgusted grunt, "Ew, You did something like that with this… this thing!"

Zell sighed, "No. She's lying. I never did anything with her. I was only a kid, who would do such things to a child?"

"No, darling, you lie to yourself many people do things with whoever they wish… but enough about the past. I'm here for the little kunoichi. I have her invitation to Dead or Alive 5."

"You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do after I take care of this broad. Got it?" Ayane gave a glare at Zell, who returned the glare silently with an added intensity due to the glow in his eyes.

"Of course, but listen to me if you want to live another day… I don't want you dead, Ayane…" Zell stepped toward the dragon and the young tengu followed.

"This is only for the tengu, but if you join, then it might be more interesting." Itsuki smirked and put the invitation back in her pocket.

Itsuki smirked and beckoned the two to come at her, which they did. Zell walked slowly and calmly, and Ayane crept behind him, waiting to seize her opportunity to attack. The dragon stepped toward the wolf and dashed at him. He leaned to take the blow, with intent to flip her, but when the move was executed, Itsuki landed in her feet and threw the wolf away, toward a tree. Ayane took the opening to sweep the legs of the dragon, only to receive a scaly tail in the face, knocking her in the opposite direction. Zell and Ayane were sent in two opposite directions, and Itsuki was in the center. The two ninja regained themselves and used the momentum from their impacts to launch themselves at her. Zell swept at the legs and Ayane aimed for the upper portion of her body. Itsuki jumped over Zell, and spun around to kick Ayane away again, this time in Zell's direction. Ayane landed on Zell, who managed to turn around fast enough to catch her in his arms. The two rolled on the ground before recovering and standing again.

"Oh how sweet. The little dog got himself a master." Itsuki hissed and her wings emerged.

Ayane gave an irritated look, "How did she avoid that? There's no way she could be that fast… unless…"

"Yeah… I think she can manipulate time too…" Zell shook his head the same way that a pet dog would after a sneeze, then he came up with a quick plan.

"You're going to give me that invitation. There's nothing you can do to stop me." Ayane's pink eyes flashed with a neon color, and then she charged at the dragon once more.

Itsuki prepared a roundhouse kick, and Ayane successfully predicted the move, then she countered with a low leg sweep of her own. Itsuki gave a light hop over the attack to evade it, then she countered with a tail whip. Ayane was swatted back a few feet, then almost took a claw across her chest. Ayane spun around and countered with her blade, effectively slicing the clothing for Itsuki's arm, and even earned a nice clean hit by the show of some blood on her blade. Itsuki smirked and slowly drove her fingers up the wounded arm, and the wound was sewn up like nothing happened, then a gold clock face appeared in her hand. Zell noticed the clock and stepped in. He yanked the violet kunoichi away and grabbed Itsuki's arm and grinded it into her own back. Itsuki had a nice gash in her back, and it apprehended her movement, as it was going directly down her spinal cord.

Zell held his hand over the dragon's hand and his eyes flickered gold before returning to their neon red color, and he pushed the dragon away. She was facing him and his back was to Ayane.

"Ayane, the technique." Zell stated simply, then summoned his black katana from thin air.

Ayane's eyes grew wide at the suggestion, "Are you nuts! That move will kill you both at that proximity!"

Zell smirked, apparently he'd already thought of that, "I know. But I have a good hunch that you'll hit the mark." He turned to face her with a blank face.

Ayane looked him in the eye, trying to convey the sadness that was held in for so long and almost started to cry. She wiped her eyes before the tears came, but she couldn't fight the memory of having to kill her foster father, it wasn't necessarily the same thing, but the concept was very similar. Zell's eyes showed a flicker of despair as well, he obviously didn't want to end like this if his plan was to fail, but there was no choice. He knew the power of the Zodiacs, as he was on himself. She hesitated before beginning the ritual for the Art of the Raging Mountain God, but started after a brief pause, by chanting then moving her arms about slowly, to gain more power, and draw out more lethality for the attack.

"That will kill only you, little wolf. I won't be affected." Itsuki smirked and healed another critical wound on her person then shot forward with a flip and brought Zell slamming on his back hard.

"It will and I know it, and you'll see how very soon." Zell did a corkscrew handstand and threw his blade at Itsuki, which she'd sidestepped, but didn't pay attention enough to get tackled to the ground.

Zell's hands became wolf-like and he pummeled the dragon with a series of clawing and punches in rapid succession. Ayane released a burst of energy behind him, signaling that she was done charging, and she took three steps and drove her fist right into Zell's back. Ayane had glided right past the two Zodiacs and Itsuki smirked just as the purple energy burst forth from the ground, in a manner that resembled a miniature nuclear blast except it was purple instead of orange and red. Itsuki gave a hoarse laugh and stood to dust herself off from the raining debris.

"See wolfy? You were just a simple prototype, I'm never wrong." Itsuki laughed again and charged at Ayane, who looked exhausted from what she'd just done.

Ayane faltered and stumbled backwards as she tried to defend herself by summoning her energy sword, but just as it appeared, Itsuki knocked the weapon away and it spiraled into the trunk of a tree. Itsuki now had a beastly face and was on all fours, moving like a lizard sizing up it's opponent and crept slowly to the kunoichi, who gave out ragged breaths. Itsui grabbed the exhausted Ayane and threw her into a tree. Ayane's body hit the tree at such a velocity that it sent splinters flying out of the opposite side of the tree, and putting a dent in it as well. Ayane groaned loudly, and only managed to turn her head to face the creature that was going to end her so easily. Itsuki sat on her back and cocked her clawed hand back and prepared for her next meal.

"No, not this time." Zell's voice came from a tree which stopped the dragon from lodging her large claw into the back of Ayane's skull, and turned her attention to were the voice had come from.

"I thought you took the full impact of that blow…" Ayane's voice was exhausted and heavily strained, but she'd locked on to the wolf boy, as he'd appeared right in front of her.

"I did, but it was absorbed." Zell replied and teleported away and then reappeared behind a still surprised Itsuki, who wasn't expecting a weak prototype to do such a feat.

Zell lodged his red clock's face into the body of Itsuki, on her back, and she began to surge with purple energy then it followed with red electricity. Upon removing his hand from the spot close to her heart, he'd taken the envelope and kicked the paralyzed dragon away. He grabbed Ayane by the waist and put the invitation inside his mouth and repositioned Ayane so that she was bridal style in his arms. He looked back and saw an explosion, and then took Ayane back to the cabin to rest.

"S-So… So how… did you… do that… just now?" Ayane managed to ask through a few strained breaths.

"I stole her power, or rather regained a portion of the power that was meant for me." Zell replied with a blank tone that hid the fear of the image of Ayane's headless body spewing blood on the forest's floor.

"Meant for you? What do you mean?"

"As she stated, I was a simple prototype, and as such was not completely awakened, but now that I have the remaining fraction of my power back, I'll be of more use in the future."

"But you were already pretty handy to have in the first place. You crazy boy."

The cabin was a decent size and was filled with necessities like a bed for rest, a window, a fireplace and a table and chair set, all of which was made from very fine wood. The sun had just passed the halfway mark, meaning it was after noon now. With Ayane exhausted from that fight and his own injuries having to be healed, and needing to adapt to the surge of forced power, the best plan was to just rest and set out at nightfall.

Zell laid Ayane in the bed and gave her a once over, carefully checking for any subtle injuries.

"Z-kun, you should have told me that you were gonna do something so stupid…" Ayane barely managed a mumble, but due to the silence outside, and Zell's close proximity to her, he heard her perfectly well.

"I didn't think you were gonna use it to that magnitude… if I would have known, then I would have told you to aim it at her." Zell slowly crept his right hand over Ayane's left thigh and he felt her body warm slightly and her muscles tense for a split second and relax shortly afterward.

"You need to start explaining what you were to the dragon thing…" Ayane stated with a heavy sigh and moved her hand over his.

"I guess now would be as good a time as any other…" Zell stated and looked Ayane in the eye and laid himself beside her and she snuggled closer to him.

There was dead silence that seemed to slow the flow of time, and Ayane looked up into the crimson orbs of the wolf and his eyes flashed pink then returned to their normal red color.

"On second thought… You don't have to tell me about it Z-kun… I'm just glad you aren't dead…" Ayane smiled and slowly closed her eyes and laid her head on Zell's chest.

It was nighttime, and storm clouds covered the horizon. Lightning flashed from the heavens and there was fire everywhere. It was the DoATEC's headquarters and there was a heavy fire going on inside and on top of that there was fighting in every area. Zell dashed through the area and looked for his targets, The Alpha-152s. He was covered in his own blood and it poured from a small cut across his forehead, a tear in his clothes that was across his chest, his body hadn't suffered many cuts, but he'd been on the receiving end of a fury of body shots that interrupted the function of limbs. He'd staggered through the area, determined to find Ayane and finish off the two that remained. He's walked through a hall with a grand window that was shattered. He'd dropped to one knee and clutched his stomach. After a moment of cursing his carelessness, he stood and staggered a bit before he regained his footing. There was an explosion in a nearby area and Zell bolted without a second thought. He didn't waste a second in trying to find them. He dashed through a corridor that leads to a hole in a large window. There was a green stream of molecular residue that trailed out as well, that and there were grunts and screams coming from down below, they sounded like Ayane, so he jumped down, heading to the helipad where the battle was taking place.

Zell thought, _"Don't let me be too late…"_ as he descended down onto the battlefield.

Ayane was battling two Alphas, and she obviously wasn't doing too well. She had lost her headband, her forehead had blood spilling down onto her face; her arms had cuts and burns on them as well; her hair had a few spots of red as well. Ayane's ninja garb was torn across the abdomen, revealing a finely crafted line of red at an angle and she was clutching her arm and breathing heavily, almost in a crouching position.

The two Alphas slowly hovered closer to the injured tengu and she slowly inched back, trying to find a means of escape, only to meet the electrical wires surrounding the area.

Ayane felt the jolt of electricity and winced, the pain which would have otherwise been miniscule, seemed to be amplified ten thousand fold in her injured stated and she stumbled forward and onto the ground before the two Alphas.

"Damn it… He was supposed to be with me… How did it end up like this…?" Ayane whimpered a bit and let out a scream as the flesh was torn in another fine line across her back.

One of the Alphas, the one on the left, cocked her head to the side and grabbed the tengu by her neck. Ayane whimpered again and her eyes flickered, but she didn't give up. Ayane managed a punch, a weak punch, but it carried enough force to stagger the Alpha that was holding her. The Alpha released her, and she'd staggered back again, but this time she'd received a horizontal kick to her stomach and she folded. Ayane clutched her stomach and a tear fell from her eye.

Just as the tear had fallen, Zell landed and ran to try to aid her, but was tackled and pinned down by the Alpha that Ayane punched. Zell was on his stomach and only a few inches away from Ayane and the other remaining Alpha, but couldn't even lift the Alpha off of him to help her. He was so close, yet so far and so weak. Ayane was grabbed by the free Alpha and was beld by her chin. The Alpha tilted Ayane's head so that they were looking at each other. The Alpha readjusted its grip to around Ayane's neck, cutting off her already limited oxygen supply. The Alpha charged some energy in it's free hand and slowly began to build power.

"…D-damn it… Ayane…" Zell strained to speak, but it caught her attention. She'd looked at him with bloody tears in her eyes and reached for him as if it was going to make the pain go away. He did the same, and was within a half a centimeter from her hand…

Ayane let out a gasp, and the entire helipad was covered in green mist, but only for a brief moment, and when the smoke had cleared, Ayane's body had hit a window and a few pieces of glass and been lodged with her wounds, then after a tense ten seconds, Zell stumbled to his feet, searching for the Alphas, then ran and leapt over to her body, just as it began its freefall toward the ground.

Tears filled the wolf boy's eyes as he'd crashed through a window, missing her by a couple inches. He quickly turned around and leapt out and gave a strained burst of fire from his feet to catch up to her.

"No… NO…" He kept repeating these words and he reached for her leg.

The ground was approaching fast and he was so close to getting her… He only needed to get a good enough grip on some part of her. After another strained burst, which was significantly weaker than the first one, Zell had gained enough leeway and grabber her legs and pulled her close to him.

He forced his hand into a window and came to an abrupt stop; almost dropping the one he cherished the most. Now only gripping her slowly slipping hand, he managed to pull her and himself up and propped himself up on a nearby stair rail, with Ayane in his arms.

Zell's breathing was very heavy and filled with gasps, "A-Ayane? Ayane…?" He held her closer to him, her body limp and unmoving, and not breathing.

"…This isn't… No… It… it…" Zell couldn't form the words, he only kept the pulse less body in his arms and let out a scream with one last breath and dropped beside her.

Zell's eyes shot open and he glanced down to see Ayane smiling and cuddling with his chest, much like the way a child snuggles with a stuffed animal in their sleep.

"Thank goodness… It was just a horrid nightmare…" Zell sighed and caressed the side of the sleeping tengu's face, feeling the warmth the was on her cheek and he smiled before relaxing and placing his hands on her exposed shoulder.

Meanwhile, in the city, Takashi was preparing a treat for his kunoichi.

"Thank you so much, Taka-kun. I really appreciate this." Kasumi gave Takashi a hug from his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and filling the immediate area of Takashi's senses with the scent of Berries.

"It's no problem Kasumi… You know I'd do anything for you…" Takashi smiled and kissed the red head on her forearm and the doorbell rang.

Kasumi giggled, "I'll go get it Taka-kun…"

When Kasumi got to the door, she called out, "Who is it?"

She was partially expecting to hear Zell's voice, as he was the frequent visitor lately, but was surprised when the voice on the other side replied, "It's Me, Tarou. Is Takashi there?"

Kasumi let out a gasp, and Takashi walked over to her to see what the problem was.

"Kasu-chan, who was it?"

"It's… your brother…"

Takashi now had an expression that seemed to display both happiness and confusion, but he swallowed hard and proceeded to the door.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – The 2nd Invite: Decisive Battle

Tarou looked like an older version of Takashi, though with longer hair, and swept it back  
>a bit, to reveal his sharp features and golden eyes, but now he was a light tan color, showing that he'd been in the sun a lot lately.<p>

"…Big brother?" Takashi asked, slightly unnerved that he was looking his brother in the eye again.

"Hey, little bro. I hope you've been taking care of yourself while I've been gone." Tarou gave a smirk and folded his arms and leaned on the door frame.

Takashi was stunned by what he was looking at. He was pretty sure that his brother was dead, but apparently that was not the truth, seeing as the two brothers were in each other's company again.

Tarou let himself in and looked around the house, "Well it seems you haven't been doing too badly by yourself, especially with Kasumi living here with you." He smirked and looked at Kasumi, who was still in her pajamas.

Kasumi looked away, and was turning a shade of pink as she felt the older boy's gaze sweeping over her the way a dog's nose swept over the floor when it was tracking something down.

After a long moment of silence, Takashi finally spoke, "So where have you been? I… kinda thought… you were… ya know…" He trained off, not wanting to bring back an event that caused his suffering.

Tarou shrugged, "I guess you could say I was in between… Kinda like dad is…" He walked into the kitchen and looked around and recollected on some of his old memories.

"Oh, that's what it was… So what made you come back so unannounced?" Takashi asked, trying not to sound like he didn't want his brother around.

"Well you know Dead or Alive 5 is coming up, right?" Tarou asked as he sat down at the table in the kitchen, and locked eyes with Takashi.

Takashi sat down at the table as well, "Yeah, but how are the invitations being sent out?"

Tarou looked at Kasumi for a split second, blinked, and turned back to his younger brother, "Due to previous assassination attempts, they'll be given via a preliminary battle to the death between the intended contestant and the messenger."

Kasumi allowed her curiosity to overcome her, and she peeked from the corner of the door hinge that led to the kitchen, only to be invited by Tarou.

"You don't have to hide, little flower. You can come in and hear it too. After all, you're the one I was looking for."

Kasumi and Takashi both grew wide eyed at the confession. Takashi stood from the table, outraged as he put the pieces together in that second and jumped to Kasumi's defense.

"Tarou-san, I wish not to do battle… I only want to see my family… I'm sure you know that, right?" Kasumi spoke softly and gently as only she could.

Tarou sighed and stood with his right index finger and thumb on the bridge of his nose, "Hayate already took his. Ryu and Ayane just got their own as well. If you want to see Hayate, you'll need to fight me to the death… There's no other way around it." He shrugged and put his arms on his sides. 

Takashi shook his head, "No, there has to be another way… I don't want the people I care about to die… especially not my brother."

Tarou only looked at his brother and the nuke-nin. Then he'd narrowed his eyes at his brother, "…This isn't your fight Takashi. It's between my commander and her. She's needed for a special project that needs to be completed, but I just need her body, so we can do this either way..."

Takashi was stunned at the statement and was frozen; trying to figure out what had changed his brother so suddenly.

"Taka-kun… I'll… I don't have much choice here, but Tarou-san, would you mind allowing our battle to be in a more open area? I wish to leave the house in one piece, as I'm sure you do as well." Kasumi's eyes had the fire of determination in them, and her voice was as calm and soft as it was before.

"Kasumi, no… I won't let you. I won't let you do this. It's suicide…" Takashi protested softly, he knew that there was more than what met the eyes in this situation.

"Fine, I want you out and by the forest by nightfall. If not, then I'll have to take what you cherish the most, and trust me. I know what, or rather, who you cherish more than that of the world itself." Tarou smirked and his pupils became narrow and cat-like, and his canine teeth grew very sharp. He'd slid between Kasumi and Takashi and began heading out the door.

Takashi grabbed his arm and tried to stop him. "Big brother, please wait a second! Is there no other way to do this? Cant you just give her the invitation and stay here?"

Tarou stopped in his tracks and turned to his little brother, who he had four inches of height over, and glared into Takashi's eyes, "…Unfortunately… No." Tarou poked Takashi in the middle of his forehead with his index and middle fingers, pushing Takashi backward and turned out to exit, all in the same motion.

Takashi had taken a few steps back to try to regain his balance from the head poke, which was harder than it looked, and Kasumi steadied him and helped him stand again.

"Thanks Kasumi…" Takashi said and massaged the inflicted area with his hands.

Kasumi held Takashi in her arms a bit longer and guided him to the couch and sat behind him, massaging the top of his head, "I think your brother might have been brainwashed…"

Takashi shot up and glared at Kasumi, disbelief burned in his eyes and Kasumi shrunk a little under the gaze. "…There was something different about him… but I don't think that is a conclusion we should make until we get more info…" Takashi was wary of what Kasumi suggested, but didn't want to believe his brother, who was the strongest person he'd ever had in his family, would be overtaken by something as demeaning as a brainwashing.

The two sat in each other's company for a while longer, until Kasumi stood up and started toward the bathroom.

Kasumi stopped at the stairs and looked sad, "I'm sorry Taka-kun, but I think there's no other way to resolve this problem… except for dealing the final attack…", then she left him to his own thoughts.

Takashi said nothing and began to process what Tarou had said and the silence in the house was making the echoing words seem even louder and more sinister. Takashi closed his eyes and entered a thinking position with his lips pursed and his right hand cupping his chin.

"There was something else in his eyes… It was relief…" Takashi stated to himself, he was replaying the visit in his mind to try to gather any hidden information, but didn't get much.

Takashi stood and started pacing as he thought more about it, but didn't get much farther that what he had. he'd thought about what he'd read about how tigers do their hunts, and kept thinking about what his brother might, or might not do to Kasumi. The images were usually about her losing her head or getting her heart torn from her body, leaving blood to gush everywhere, and leave her eyes cold and staring at the sky. He'd paced for three hours before Kasumi returned and stopped his train of thought from going off of a destroyed bridge.

"… You don't have to worry Taka-kun. I'll be fine." Kasumi called as she started down the stairs and toward Takashi.

"It's not just you I'm worried about Kasu-chan…" Takashi replied and gave a heavy sigh.

Kasumi knew how Takashi felt; after all, she was in a similar situation, "I know how you feel Taka-kun…" Kasumi placed her hands on his head and turned his head to face her and look into her golden brown eyes, "…but believe me, I will do all that I can to not harm your brother. I only hope that he'll know when to quit…"

Takashi gazed into the nuke-nin's eyes and pulled her into an embrace. His grip was firm enough to convey that he didn't want to lose her, but at the same time it was soft enough to show he understood what was to come, and another part of the hug, the release, seemed to show that neither of them wanted to lose the other. After hesitating to release her, Takashi finally, if very slowly, released her and held her shoulders in his hands.

"Kasumi, I want to go with you. I have a bad feeling about this… He said that he didn't need you alive, so that means he will be trying to kill you."

The two teens pondered the words and sighed consecutively. Kasumi pulled away from the young phoenix and gave his right hand a lingering touch as she left to get her ninja garb on.

At sunset, Takashi and Kasumi were outside the forest just as Tarou had instructed, and as he promised, he was waiting. He crept out of the shadows, just as a cat stalking its prey would.

"I see you showed up. Let's get this going asap." Tarou smirked evilly and eased into the crouching tiger stance.

"I'll do what I can." Kasumi looked at Takashi as she spoke, then took three steps towards Tarou and got into her stance.

Tarou charged forward with a lunge, and gave Kasumi three swings, followed by a leg sweep. Kasumi put her guard up to block the blows to her face, but was swept by the low attack and hit her back on the grass. Tarou jumped into the air and shot downward with a fist aimed at her head. She did an ukemi and rolled backwards and stood again, and spotted her chance to counterattack and took it. She took two swift steps and impaled Tarou in his right side, hitting a few pressure points and followed with a roundhouse kick and sent his spiraling away and grinded his face in the dirt. The invitation flashed in his pocket, adorned in ribbons and silk. She stepped warily toward the downed boy and reached for the invitation and got a handful of a claw. Tarou lodged his hand inside of hers and spun around with her hand locked in his and threw her into a tree. Kasumi rotated slowly as she flew towards the tree and hit the tree's center with her back which knocked her wind away and broke the tree and it fell over onto her. Tarou walked over to the broken tree and picked it up like it was a simple stick, and smashed it down multiple times over Kasumi's back, and each time pummeling her further into the ground. Kasumi gave a pained yelp with each hit from the wooden pole that was the tree that she'd been used to knock over with such ease.

Takashi intervened with a large fire ball, knocking Tarou off his balance. Tarou took the tree and hurled it at Takashi and followed it with such speed that it seemed like he was attached to it by an invisible string. Takashi deflected the tree and it burst into flames and careened diagonally into the sky, but Tarou appeared right behind it and gave Takashi a powerful, almost deadly, hit to his stomach. Takashi froze and his eyes rolled back into his head for a brief moment, and then he flew back a few feet and rolled backwards from the force and hit his head on a light post and dented it. Takashi slumped over, trying to gather his bearings.

"_Damn, I knew he'd be strong, just not this strong… I wonder how Ayane held out against whoever she fought… Did she have this much trouble?" _Takashi sighed and thought to himself as he looked in the direction that Kasumi was, only see white stars flashing before his eyes. He stood to go to her aid, but in the following seconds, he'd passed out.

Tarou looked at his slumped brother and walked over to him, as if he was concerned. In the background, Kasumi slowly rose to her feet, groaning slightly due to having a 100 pound tree slammed into her spinal cord more than five times. Tarou's eyes were not as malice filled as they were just moments before as he'd walked over to his brother.

"Takashi… are you…?" Tarou stopped walking and reached out to his brother, as if in a daze, then he gripped his head and screamed and dropped to his knees and turned to Kasumi again with rage and unfathomable fury in his eyes.

Kasumi barely had her bearings before she was engaged in combat once more. Tarou dove at her, and she leaned back and did a reverse somersault to avoid his tackle and turned around to meet a claw across her face. She yelped at the sudden pain and the feeling of the warm blood that escaped her cheek. Kasumi spun around and sliced his face with a kunai, which crossed his eye and tore his cheek. Kasumi now filled with rage, charged at Tarou and took him down as he recoiled with pain from the cold metal meeting his face. Kasumi hit a few pressure points to subdue Takashi's older brother and pinned him to the ground, with a few more kunai through his left arm and lodged into the ground beneath them and the two combatants glared hatefully into each other's eyes.

Kasumi let out a gasp and noticed the confusion in his eyes. "I was right… He was brainwashed, and he's fighting it with all his strength…"

Tarou blinked again and his right arm had grown in size and the claw had returned.

Kasumi noticed Tarou tried another attack, and in return she did as well. The two struck each other with blows that would have paralyzed, or killed, any normal person, and were aiming for a lethal area of the body, the ribcage, but due to her ninja training and years of running, Kasumi dodged the most lethal portion of the strike, but in turn threw off her own aim as well. The two fighters hit each other in the ribs and broke several of them, but didn't get to the lungs or the heart and their backs were covered in big dark stain of blood as though their backs were cut open. Both Tarou and Kasumi dropped after the attacks connected, and passed out due to the amount of blood the strikes had forced out of each body.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 – Out for a Date**

The following day, Takashi had received a call from Maria.

"Don't worry about him Takashi. He'll be fine. I took care of him and your ninja girl." Maria spoke through the other line of Takashi's phone.

"I know that, but when will I be able to see him again?" Takashi asked as he massaged the back of his head.

"I can't say too much on his status. You'll have to talk to Zell. He treated them both, and by the looks of things, he's not going to be around for a while either."

"What? You mean he's out cold too?" Takashi exclaimed, and gave himself a bigger headache.

"That's going to be the case for a while. After all, he isn't at his peak so he has to rest naturally." Maria gave a sigh after the explanation.

There was nothing more to be said at the moment and both parties hung up and resumed their duties. Zell had been called in to get Kasumi, Takashi and Tarou. Takashi was the easiest to heal, given the fact that he only and a minor concussion. Kasumi was in a slight comatose state, even after Zell's time reversing healing, as was Tarou.

Elsewhere, in a dim lit room, a man was at a desk and typing something when a woman came in.

"Yes Jenni? What's the situation?"

"Sir, it seems that we've lost Tarou. He was killed just a bit ago."

"Hm… I see. So that runaway is quite skilled. I knew it was an excellent idea to use her cells to create a new being."

"So sir, when shall I be heading out to retrieve his corps?"

"Bah, juts leave it where it is to rot. It's no use to me now anyway, but you can go and give Lei Fang her invitation."

"Understood sir."

Two days later, Kasumi had made a full recovery and was back with Takashi. She'd first wondered how all of her injuries had healed and left no scars, but quickly realized that is was Zell, whom she was indebted to now. Takashi was just glad to have his kunoichi back and he was going to surprise her with something.

"Taka-kun, can we go out today? You'd promised that we would this week." Kasumi called from the second floor bedroom.

Takashi jumped, startled from being immersed in his own mind, and called back, "Sure. I suppose we could go do something together…" then he mumbled, "Hopefully this'll get my mind off of the incident for a while…" then he'd turned to the stairs where Kasumi was coming down and his jaw fell to the floor and dented it when he gazed upon the runaway.

Kasumi came down stairs with her hair down, flowing with each step she took, and dressed in a blue silk dress that had a white lining, and hugged her curves rather nicely, had a slit in the left side that closed off at the middle of the thigh and a pair of white open toed heels. She found a pair of contacts that made her eyes multiple tones of blue, which went nicely in contrast to her honey eyes and gave them a different look.

"…S-so… Taka-kun… How do I look?" Kasumi did her usual timid thing, putting her left hand on her chin, her left index finger underneath her lips, and looked down with her right hand behind her back.

Takashi blinked multiple times and swallowed hard, trying to form words "…You look great, but I think it'd be better if you got a manicure before we went out." He'd stated and unconsciously walked over to her, looking at her hands, and then wrapped his arms around her, and the heat between them picked up. The two shared a brief kiss before Takashi realized that he was still in pajamas.

Takashi bolted to his room and looked for something nice as well. While he was changing, he'd fished out his cell phone from his pocket and called the only other person who knew about Dead or Alive 5, which was Zell.

The phone had rung three times, then Zell's voice came in quietly on the other end, as though he were just waking up. "What's up?"

"This is pretty important, so I'll be quick. Do you know how many Zodiacs are under Donovan's influence?" Takashi asked rather quickly, not wanting to be overheard by Kasumi, who was waiting downstairs for him.

"Well there are ten, but Ayane killed one, and Tarou's communicator has been taken care of, so nine that I know of for the time being. Why?" Zell replied drowsily, still not completely recovered from playing medic.

"Do you have the names of the other nine? Or do you know where they are?"

"The real threats are Jenni, Orochi, Shinjiko and Busuzima. But the others are small fry. There was a girl named Itsuki, she was killed by Ayane though."

Takashi pulled out a sweater vest from his closet and glanced at it in the mirror, Can you meet me out tonight? I want to thank you in person for helping us out."

Zell gave a sigh, started to refuse but thought better of it, "I'll see what I can do, but I'll have to bring Ayane along, you know, so this might not be a good idea."

Takashi smirked on his end, "Thanks anyway. I'm just trying to be a good friend you know."

"Alright, see ya later, Taka-bro." Zell replied and hung up on his end.

Takashi sighed and dressed himself in a black business casual outfit and headed down to meet Kasumi.

His outfit was a black button up shirt, the top button undone with a navy blue sweater vest and black khaki pants. He also donned a pair of solid black shoes that passed as dress shoes, but looked to be gym shoes.

Kasumi gave a small clap and cheer at the way Takashi had cleaned up, and she'd gotten a blue purse and followed him to the door.

"Are we going to any particular places for our day out?" Kasumi asked gently as she watched the traffic of the busy afternoon, then turned to Takashi, who'd just finished locking his house.

"Well, aside from some nail salon to get you a manicure and pedicure, there's still the restaurant… Would you mind trying out some western food tonight?"

"No, not at all. In fact, I'd like to taste some. It's been a goal of mine for some time now." Kasumi smiled and wrapped her arms around his right arm, and locked hands with his.

The couple had gone to the nearest mall, which happened to have one of the most famous nail parlor/spa in the city, which in turn meant they would be waiting a great amount of time for Kasumi's turn to come.

Kasumi gave a sigh and a discouraged look as the line seemed to stretch on forever in the mall, "Maybe we should just skip this part? It looks like it'll take a while."

Takashi folded his arms, "No, I want you to enjoy this day. We'll get this taken care of first… besides; no one'll recognize you…"

Kasumi looked around and confirmed that no assassins were present before she resumed speaking, "I'll take your word for it, but would you mind calling me 'Hanako' while we're in public?" She'd whispered in a low voice to not attract attention.

Takashi smirked and replied, "Sure thing, 'Hanako'." He placed an arm around the runaway kunoichi and looked her in the eyes and smiled again, then he placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

An hour had passed before it was Kasumi's turn to get her treatment, and when she went to the counter there was a girl sitting next to an empty chair. The girl was a brunette and wore a purple silk dress that stopped at her shin, had a nice slit in it that led to her waist, and was sleeveless. She wore a pair of purple open toe heels as well. Kasumi recognized the aura, but didn't know why, that is, until she saw the brown skinned boy with red hair approaching.

Kasumi sat down quietly as the couple had a small conversation.

"This had better be good, Z-kun. I haven't been to this salon before."

"Relax a little, Haruko. It's going to be great, although I probably could do better with the massage than they are." The boy replied tiredly and finished his statement with a sigh.

"Well we'll see about that when we get home, won't we?"

"Of course, I'll see you in a bit." Zell had waved at the girl and made his way out of the salon.

Kasumi tensed up as Zell had left, as his eyes looked right at her, and held an unsure, yet very exhausted expression within the gaze that passed over her. Almost immediately, the girl who Zell was talking to had turned to face Kasumi herself.

"Hello, how are you?"

"…I'm fine…" Kasumi replied shyly, afraid of what might happen if the girl was who Kasumi thought she was.

"I'm Haruko. What's your name?" the girl gave Kasumi a genuine smile which seemed to wash away the worries of a battle in a large crowd.

"…Uh, I'm Hanako. It's nice to meet you, Haruko." Kasumi gave a smile as well.

The two girls looked up simultaneously as they were both called to go to the back area of the salon and begin their pampering for their big dates.

Outside the salon, Zell was dressed in a short sleeved button up, white, and over the button up was a sweater vest, black with red lines intersecting making rhombi shapes, his pants were black and business styled, his shoes were all black. He was starting at the setting sun, and the trail of purple that it was leaving in its wake.

"Okay Zell. Looks like Ryu and Hayate took care of two more Zodiacs... which leaves us with six left." Maria stated over the Bluetooth looking earpiece.

"Well that just makes this easier for me. But it seems kind of stupid though." Zell noted and leaned his head back to stare at the sky.

"I noticed it too, maybe he's got another batch of them and is sending out the small fry… but then that wouldn't be right… not from what I gathered from Lei Fang…" Maria rambled a bit, and didn't catch, or try to fix what she'd said.

Zell's eyes widened at this, "What about Lei Fang? Did something happen to her?"

"She was attacked too, she and Jann Lee fought with a female, whose description fit Jenni pretty well. Lei Fang got a few injuries, a couple broken bones, and some fractured ribs but she's going to live."

Zell was relieved about the news, but something else got to him, "And what about Jann?"

"He's in critical. He was almost on the brink of death, but pulled out at the last second, he's stable but his injuries should have killed him... truly amazing, really." Maria replied in a nonchalant tone.

"Did Tina get hers? What of the other participants?"

"No news on them yet, but Kasumi was the next intended target… but she was taken care of already. Zell maybe you should rest more before you go out. Ya never know when another might strike." Maria gave another warning.

"I'll be on the lookout for anything fishy."

"Be careful… Also, you might have another person that you'll need to kill." Maria added this on like it was just small news.

"What? Care to elaborate, Superior?" Zell hadn't addressed her as that in a while, so something was up, and it probably wasn't good.

"It turns out that Helena has a younger sister… named Kokoro. I'm sure you met her on Zack Island. She is the daughter of his mistress."

"You mean, that little girl is related to Helena? Just great. Now I have to kill a kid…" Zell sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose.

"She's seventeen and is an apprentice Geisha… ugh." Maria groaned at the last part of the statement.

"…so I'll have to kill Kokoro, a nice, innocent girl who probably has no idea about her heritage, but simply due to the fact that she'd the next in line for DOATEC? Oh, this makes me feel so much better. I'll sign off now. I don't want to ruin my date with Ayane." Zell replied with a huge amount of sarcasm, rolled his eyes and hung up, then he began to pace and think about the situation, stumbling occasionally.

Zell sighed hard, so hard that fire came from his mouth as he breathed, then he realized something, "…Oh shit…" Zell whipped his head around and massaged his temples. Zell proceeded to cursing under his breath as he began to reevaluate his plan… things weren't going good at all, so he sat on the bench nearby and folded his arms and closed his eyes to focus better.

Meanwhile, Takashi watched Kasumi enter the back of the salon and he'd called out, "I'll be waiting outside, Hanako."

Kasumi acknowledged him with a wave and smile before she turned and continued to follow the two other girls.

Takashi had left and went outside as well, and was surprised to find the wolf boy sitting on the bench.

"Yo, Z. What's goin' on? You're here faster than I'd expected." Takashi called out and made his way over to the wolf boy.

"Huh? Oh Taka-bro. What are you doing out here? I thought you were doing something with Kasumi." Zell looked in the direction where Takashi was approaching.

"I'm taking her out to dinner… I assume you're taking Ayane-sama?" Takashi took a seat next to Zell.

"Well yeah, I am. So when are you leaving, and why isn't she with you?"

"She's getting her nails and feet done, then I'm taking her to a western restaurant."

"Ah, well I've got my share of problems, but maybe you can help me solve them." Zell cupped his chin and crossed a leg over the other.

"It'll help pass the time, so I'll give it a shot. What do you have and what do you need?" Takashi seemed glad to have something to do and try to help do something else.

"Turns out that Kokoro is Helena's younger sister, and that in turn means that she's in line for DOATEC…" Zell hung his head to the side and sighed.

Takashi got the hint, "And that means you'll have to kill innocent little Kokoro too? Man that's messed up…"

Zell rubbed his forehead and gave another flame bearing sigh, and his eyes had the narrow slit, red to orange to yellow colored irises, and now they had three arrows that were in a similar manner to the Sharingan eye, "I'm sure Kokoro wouldn't want to take over a company like DOA… right?" His tone was more worried than anything else.

Takashi looked away, "…I dunno… She said something about needing money for her mother to retire… and for some operation that she'd be undergoing…"

Zell sighed in defeat, "Fan-fuckin'-tastic… I have to ruin another family. Perhaps I should just call it quits and log this as a Mission Failed…" He looked at his watch, then he covered his face with both hands and took a few deep breaths.

"It won't fail. You just need to think it through a bit more… I'm sure Kokoro won't take DOATEC after Helena's dead." Takashi shrugged and tried to cheer his friend up, and it seemed to work a little.

"I hope you're right…" Zell grumbled then stood and approached the entrance of the mall.

Takashi followed suit, remembering that Kasumi had went at the same time as the girl that Zell was with. The two boys walked into a games store to check out the latest releases.

Ayane was the girl that was with Zell, and she'd done such a great job of hiding who she really was, that even Kasumi was fooled. Right now, the two half sisters were in towels, getting their bodies massaged; they had just finished drying their nails and now were finishing their visit.

"So, Hanako, who was that guy you were with in the lobby?" Ayane asked as she played dumb and enjoyed her massage and other treatments.

"Well, He's a good friend of mine, and we've been going steady for a while now." Kasumi replied, although she was not fully convinced of who she was talking to.

"Oh, so you two were friends before you started dating?" Ayane gave some well played, yet very forced, enthusiasm into the questions.

"You could say something like that. So who's the guy you were with? He looked very nice." Kasumi flipped the script as a means of confirming the identity of the person beside her.

Before Ayane could reply, the masseurs had begun applying warm, tension relieving lotion to the two girls' backs and shoulders. Both girls gave soft sighs that were followed by moans of pleasure. The masseurs pressed gently on the girls' spines and trailed up to their shoulders and began to press a bit more firmly.

"…My friend's name is Zell. He was taking me to dinner tonight for my birthday… It's going to be the perfect date…" Ayane managed to say in between the pressings of another body against hers. A smile crept across her face as she closed her eyes.

Kasumi was worried about two things: Ayane being the girl that Zell was treating, which seemed highly likely; and the other thing was that He might be cheating on her little sister. The latter of which made her slightly furious.

Kasumi gave an inward gasp which came out as a sigh of great pleasure then she said, "You do realize that he already has a girlfriend, right?"

Ayane was facing the opposite direction of Kasumi, so Kasumi didn't see when Ayane had a big grin on her face. "Yep, I sure do." The bubbly amusement was again, present, but this time it seemed genuine.

Kasumi was speechless as they'd both had finished up, changed and met the boys outside where the two boys, Takashi and Zell were browsing through some of the games in the fighting genre.

Zell stopped looking at the game in his hand and said, "I take it you had a nice time?" Then he turned around and greeted Ayane with a hug and nuzzled noses with her.

She giggled and smiled at him, "I sure did."

Takashi did the same thing with Kasumi, but shortly afterward she turned to Zell and got in his face. "So where is Ayane? I thought you two were dating?"

Zell smirked and looked at 'Haruko'. "Well looks like the disguise worked like a charm."

Kasumi gave a dumbfounded look, "Wh-what? You mean...?" She pointed to 'Haruko' who was Ayane in disguise.

"Oh, I had a feeling it was you… I was kind of worried that he'd leave you…" Kasumi's soft tone returned.

"Aya… I mean Haruko is not someone who can be caught easily you know…" Zell grabbed Ayane's hand and gently squeezed it.

"Hm? Care to explain what you mean by that Z-kun?" Ayane gave the brown boy a look of curiosity, and locked her fingers in with his and the two started out the door.

"Looks like we don't have to worry about her trying to kill you now, right?" Takashi looked to Kasumi and smiled a tiny bit as he offered his arm for her to hold.

"I suppose so…" Kasumi latched herself onto Takashi's arm gently and placed her head on his shoulder as they followed Zell and Ayane out of the mall.

On the bench outside the mall, Ayane sat on Zell's lap, her body to the side and her cheek on his and they received a few weird looks from the passers-by. Kasumi gasped and remarked, "Maybe you two should get a room? You'll have to keep it PG out here."

Ayane smirked and even laughed a bit, "Oh hush Nee-san. I know you do the same thing with Takashi too."

Takashi turned beet red, and Kasumi was floored at the fact that Ayane had used a proper title to address her by. "What did you just call me?"

"Come now, Nee-san… I know it's sudden, but… things have changed…" Ayane gave a more solemn tone this time, as if she were bearing bad news.

"What do you mean?" Both Takashi and Kasumi asked as they dead locked eyes with Ayane.

"Onii-sama… I mean, Hayate told me that… that…" Ayane stammered a bit, almost not wanting to relay the news.

Kasumi approached her little sister and tried to pull her from Zell's lap, but like a scared cat, Ayane didn't budge. "Please… tell me what happened?" Kasumi's soft voice came as a lullaby, coaxing the butterfly ninja into speaking more.

"Mom... she… she died…" Ayane's eyes trailed away and scanned a crack in the cement and followed it back to Zell, who she hugged and hugged her back.

Kasumi was shaken by the news, and it brought tears to her eyes. She cupped her face and wept softly, and Takashi was there, like Zell was for Ayane, and kept her from going ballistic.

The two stepsisters wept and gave a moment of silence, and eventually regained themselves enough to speak a bit more, and seeing as they were out for the same purposes, Takashi proposed an idea.

"Hey, how about we double date?"

Ayane and Kasumi looked at each other, apparently asking if that was going to be a good idea. They looked into each other's eyes, which seemed difficult to do, seeing as each of them had gotten a makeover to hide who they really were, and it didn't feel the same as looking into each others' eyes as they played gleefully with one another under the watchful eyes of their brother so many years ago.

Zell interrupted the two girls' thoughts and voiced his opinion, "I don't see why we shouldn't. We all have things we need to talk about, so this way just saves time. Don't you agree, little butterfly?" He hugged Ayane and tried to help clear her already clouded mind, and gave a soft kiss on her forehead as she leaned on him.

Kasumi swallowed hard, "I suppose it would…"

"Yeah, I think so too." Ayane added and gave a very tired breath.

Zell sighed hard and stood with Ayane in his arms, "Talk about a change of atmosphere… any way, Takashi where did you plan on taking Hanako?"

"There was a new Western Style buffet that had just opened, and I was thinking about going there."

Zell looked at Ayane and she nodded, "Well we'll go there with you guys, if you don't mind."

Takashi and Kasumi nodded in compliance and went with Ayane and Zell to the restaurant. When they arrived, the two couples received many shocked eyes and jealous glares. Their table was in the far back of the restaurant. Kasumi and Ayane both ate at least their own weight in food, while Zell and Takashi had nearly lost their appetites in fear of how expensive their bill would be. The two boys also noted that Tina and Lei Fang didn't eat as much as the two kunoichi. Takashi partially expected Tina to be able to put away twice her own weight in food, simply due to her upbringing and strength, but she was nothing like the eating machine Kasumi was. The two sisters consumed almost two hundred U.S dollars worth of food, while the boys only hit the fifty mark.

With the two kunoichi happy with their meals, they decided to go home, and Ayane decided to go to Zell's Headquarters with him for the night, and that turned a few heads as well.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 – The Third Invitation: Tying Up a Loose End **

_**Three Days Ago…**_

In a dark and dim room was a man whose glasses reflected the light from the screen of the monitor he was watching furiously. This man was one of the people directly responsible for the Zodiac Project. He was looking over his research and was interrupted by one of his more favorable and better looking products.

The one who had entered the room was a girl. Her hair was a bright orange and her eyes were an emerald green. Her skin was a healthy peach color and her lips were a strawberry color. Her outfit was a figure exposing skin suit, which was made of a stretchy fabric to adhere to the wearer's flexibility. The girl was named Jenni and she had the unfortunate habit of telling her creator of bad news.

"Yes Jenni? What's the situation?" The man looked up from his monitor for a second to briefly address the messenger.

Jenni nodded at him before she spoke, "Sir, it seems that we've lost Tarou. He was killed just a bit ago."

The scientist rubbed his chin in brief thought, "Hm… I see. So that runaway is quite skilled. I knew it was an excellent idea to use her cells for the ultimate being." A maniacal smile crept across the man's aged face.

"So sir, when shall I be heading out to retrieve his corpse?" Jenni asked, hoping she'd get a chance to see what became of the one she'd shared a potential future with.

The man waved his hand in annoyance, "Bah, just leave it where it is to rot. It's no use to me now anyway, but… you can go and give Lei Fang her invitation."

Jenni gave an inward sigh and she bowed again, "Understood sir."

In the Tianlongfeng Dojo, two of the previous tournament's competitors were sparring in a secluded area. Lei Fang and Jann Lee were sparring, Lei Fang trying to prove herself to the man who'd saved her life several years ago.

Lei Fang, who was dressed in her usual attire of a Chinese dress and heels stood at the ready with her arms flowing gently as though they were being whisked through a gentle breeze, "I hope you're ready Jann. This time will be the real deal."

Jann Lee the famed Chinese bouncer, dressed in a tank top and puffed out pants brushed his nose's tip with his thumb and hopped around a bit and flexed his muscles, "I suppose so, but you did win our little bout in the flaming tower… so there wouldn't be much of a point in this now would there?"

Lei Fang kept her stance and her face neutral, "It wasn't a fair fight. We were in a collapsing building and it was coming down as we fought…" Lei fang stopped and idled on how close they both were to being burnt to ashes just to prove a point.

Jann sighed and got into a stance, "So be it. I hope you're ready to face the dragon once more."

Lei Fang nodded, then the two Chinese fighters dashed at one another. Jann got the first punch in, a right shot, and he followed it up with two more body blows and a fast roundhouse kick. Lei Fang spun and moved a few steps back while trying to regain her footing, only to be caught by a mid-air kick to her back. Lei Fang bounced on her face and groaned a bit. Jann looked a bit disappointed, but let his guard down as he went to help the college student to her feet. Lei Fang was on one knee when she'd spotted the offered hand and hesitated to take it, but when she grabbed his hand and flipped him onto his back. Jann hit the mat rather hard and lost his breath, and was suddenly greeted by a heel in his chest. Lei Fang stood over the bouncer proudly for two seconds before she stumbled and found herself being greeted by a foot in several areas. Jann had rolled from under her and grabbed her left arm and allowed himself a kicking frenzy. He hit her ankle, then her thigh, then her chest and lastly her face, and she skidded back almost as soon as she'd hit the floor. Lei Fang rose again and this time her face was red with fury. She inhaled and released the deep breath and beckoned the bouncer to attack her again. Jann inched closer, instead of doing the expected thing by darting right into an attack, and approached the college student with much caution. Lei Fang gave a low sweeping kick, which Jann dodged by a brief hop and countered with the Dragon fist, spinning once and delivering a powerful back fist to Lei Fang's Chest. She took the full power of the punch, due to proximity, and flew back into the wall of the dojo and slid down to the ground, groaning slightly.

Jann smirked, knowing that he'd beaten the Tai Chi Genius once again and turned and folded his arms in satisfaction. Lei Fang, determined not to allow another defeat by his hands, grunted hard as she struggled to rise to her feet again. Although Jann's hits were few, they held a lot of power and that seemed to play more of a part than that of his actual speed. Lei Fang dashed at the bouncer as he started to turn to face her once again and then she gave a powerful double palm burst to his ribs and sent him skidding back several feet before he'd dropped to the ground.

The bouncer struggled to stand, and as he rose he spoke, "You win." He bowed before Lei Fang, acknowledging her as the victor.

Lei Fang clapped and did a small cheer, but was interrupted by softer clapping in the background. Both Chinese combatants looked to see a girl with bright orange hair, emerald green eyes, and the skin tight leather suit on.

Lei Fang gave a weary glare to the girl, while Jann simply got into his battle stance again as his instincts began to take over.

Jenni didn't say a word, she just pulled out two envelopes from her rear pockets and showed them to the combatants and smirked and put the envelopes back in her pockets. "You want them? You'd better make me happy with our play time."

Lei Fang resumed her stance and took a few steps back as she began to size up the girl and noticed there was a monkey's tail coming from her back side.

Jenni made the first move by going for Lei Fang. She made a dash for the student and gave a round house kick to her chest. The motion was so fast that Lei Fang didn't have time to react and took the complete force of the attack and slid back to the wall. Jenni made another advance at Lei Fang, but she was held up by Jann, he'd given the monkey a clothesline with his muscular bicep and knocked her wind out temporarily, forcing her off her balance and unable to defend herself. Jann quickly followed up with a flurry of twenty-five rapid fire punches and ended with a powerful advancing kick, and sent Jenni rolling into the opposite wall.

Jann made a move toward Lei Fang, who was still in the corner where Jenni had kicked her; all of her ribs were broken from the single kick. She sat on the ground clutching herself, which was the only thing she could do at the time to stop majority of the pain. Jann didn't waste any time as he moved and picked her up and took her to the lobby where the receptionist called for an ambulance. When Jann returned to the dojo where Jenni was, he was greeted by a tail wrapping around his neck, effectively cutting off his air supply.

With Jenni behind him and stopping his circulation, Jann was starting to pass out, but somehow he'd managed to fend off the coming darkness that was starting to creep into his vision and elbowed Jenni in her abdomen twice. The two blows to the stomach made Jenni lose her grip on his neck and he'd started in for a punch, but the monkey girl caught the man's fist and jumped on his arm, rolled him to the floor and snapped his right arm in three places. Upon her rising back to her feet, she'd also stomped his ribcage multiple times, cracking a few of his ribs in the process, but Jann continued to fight.

He rose again, this time more struggle was involved, given he'd lost the use of one arm. He made a play using his left arm and leg, both of which were caught by Jenni and she spun the bouncer into the wall and slammed his body hard enough to break Bass's arm. Somehow, Jann managed to avoid the full force of the throw and only broke a few ribs and dislocated his left shoulder. Jann fell to the ground and was on his knees once again, but the determination never left his features.

Jenni stepped to the kneeling Jann and smirked evilly as she fished out the invitations for Jann and Lei Fang. She'd released the from her grasp and as they descended slowly to the ground, Jenni took Jann's head and repeatedly slamming his face into the floor, then stomped his ribcage to finish the damage done to the bouncer's upper body. She stepped back and looked at what she'd done; a smirk was ever present on her face.

"Well, whoever killed my dear Tarou will suffer a fate even worse than this…" Just as she'd finished admiring her work, the ambulance sounded and just like that, she was gone.

_**Present Time**_

Ayane sat on Zell's bed and looked around his room at the Organization. It was a basic cubic room with ghostly white walls and no decorations on the walls. There was a desk and a small sofa that folded out into a bed, and a 20" television set. The television set was covered in a moderate amount of dust, showing no signs of recent use or cleaning, whereas the desk was really neat and clean. The contents of the desk were cup of pencils, brushes and pens, a notepad and two folders in the center, a lamp in the upper right corner, and three photos in the upper left corner. His bed was a full sized bed with a black and grey color scheme; pillows and comforter were grey and the sheets in between were black with grey crescent moons on them.

Ayane laid herself on the bed and stretched herself out; she stared at the ceiling and noticed that she couldn't hear the buzzing of the lights like in a normal room. She looked and noticed there was no window, but there was a vent for air circulation, and she couldn't even hear that. Deducing that there was no major threat, the kunoichi closed her eyes and began to reflect on the past months of her existence.

She gave a confused sigh and held her head with her left hand, sliding her right hand across her bellybutton slowly then placed her palm on her stomach, "Well we destroyed the DOATEC Tritower, I saved Nee-chan from a fiery death there…after that Hayate disappeared… then I looked for him and only found an invitation to a resort island and he wasn't there… I came across Nee-chan again and met Zell and Takashi… They helped me have a good time on that island… then after two weeks I return home to find Onii-sama safe and sound… I was supposed to continue hunting Nee-chan… but I found out Zell had a mission that was supposed to stop me from killing her… I wonder how long he can keep that up?" Ayane gave another agitated sigh and opened her eyes and sat up.

She cupped her chin with her left hand and turned herself so that her legs hung from the bed, "We have been getting along really well, and we've been getting closer too… but why do I keep getting a bad feeling…?" Ayane mumbled a little and pondered this thought for a minute, but her thoughts were interrupted by the quiet intercom.

"Zell, get to my office A.s.a.p., It's urgent." That voice belonged to Maria, the superior and leader of the Organization.

Ayane was curious so she decided to wander to the Superior's office as well.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 – New Nuisances; Qualifiers**

**_A/N: My characters, Zell and the Superior, belong to me, Natsu and Sean belong to Kaneshiro-Sama, Akihiko belongs to Kage69, and Takashi belongs to godofmadness43. Thanks to you guys for being so cool! This chapter is for you._  
><strong>

Ayane entered Maria's room and noticed that Zell was crouched on one knee before her desk and she was smiling evilly.

"Now, what do you need to say to me?" Maria asked, her smirk never left her face when she spotted Ayane.

"…I… I'm in love with you, Superior…" Zell grumbled at the statement, and then he'd sensed the energy of the woman tengu. He cursed inwardly as he stood up. His face was neutral, but his eyes betrayed his true rage at the moment, and there was a spike in his energy.

Ayane gasped and stopped Zell where he stood. "What the hell was that!? Have you been lying to me to keep me from completing my mission? Were you toying with my emotions for the sake of your own?" Ayane's eyes were filled with just as much fury as Zell's were.

Zell stood there and huffed through his nostrils and looked skyward. Ayane opened her mouth to gasp, but she'd seen Maria smile even more and released a frustrated grunt. Ayane turned 180 degrees and stomped toward the door, and just as she reached the door there was a news bulletin.

"This just in, there has been a confirmed stage for the newcomers to battle against the still capable invited fighters of the fourth Dead or Alive tournament, it will be held here at the Mishima Arena in 2 hours, which means, come two o' clock there better be some fighting! Also, if combatants who have been invited lose, they still retain their spot in the tournament."

Maria sashayed in front of the distracted Ayane and smirked, "You can kick his ass there; especially since he needs to go in order to get into the tournament."

Zell narrowed his eyes and gave a "humph" before he'd disappeared. Ayane clenched a fist and said nothing as she exited the Organization's Headquarters to head out to the Mishima Arena for the battles.

The Mishima Arena was, in reality, a normal sized building with a ring and sparring equipment inside. The competitors here were Ayane, Kasumi, Kokoro, Zell, Takashi, and three newcomers, Akihiko, Sean and Natsu; but Natsu wasn't there just yet.

Despite the announcement, the only person there besides the combatants was a referee. There was a caged ring in the middle of the arena. The participants had to stay in a waiting area off to the side of the ring.

Ayane sat with her arms folded and glaring hard at Kasumi, who just happened to be in her line of sight. Kokoro looked away, gazing at various things, trying to keep her mind off of the battles. Kasumi fidgeted with her hands timidly as she noticed Ayane's evil look.

On the other side of the waiting area, Zell sat with Takashi having a conversation; it was a recap of what happened in Maria's room earlier in the day.

"So now Ayane thinks you were playing with her emotions?" Takashi asked, as he seemed thrown off by the story.

"Yeah and when she gets mad, she won't listen to anyone…" Zell shook his head and sighed.

Before Takashi could reply there was a whistle, "Will the first two combatants please get ready to come up to the ring?" The referee was female judging by the voice and figure of the body.

There were a few murmurs about who'd go first in battle, but Ayane stood up first and scoffed. She walked toward the ring and stood inside, eyeing all of the competitors that were present in the waiting area. She glared at all of them, and only two managed to return her glare, Takashi and Zell. Zell started to stand up, but was pushed down by the guy to his right.

"I'll go first. The stupid spinning crap that she does is useless. Does nothing but leave openings, that's all." The guy looked to be the same age as Zell, and had spiky black hair and was clad in a denim jacket and jeans. His T-shirt had a strange logo on it, and his sneakers were red, and his hands were bandaged tightly down to the knuckles.

Zell was about to say something, but Ayane growled, "I'll show you some openings you spiky headed bastard."

The guy shrugged off the comment and replied, "The name's Sean. I hope you'll at least be a challenge. I've never been to fight someone as simple to fight as you…" Sean smirked at the reaction he got from the violet kunoichi. He stepped into the ring and clenched his fists several times to get loose, and even did a few machine gun punches to the air.

The referee entered from a side and called out, "The battle will commence until either one or both parties are unable to, or choose to end the battle. No weapons allowed unless both parties are in possession of one. You may begin."

Sean eased into his boxer's stance and watched Ayane get into her Hajin-Mon battle stance. Sean sized the female up a little before she'd made her move. Ayane rotated into a spin kick that could have chopped a tree down, but Sean ducked, leaving Ayane in her rear facing stance. Zell smirked and folded his arms as he watched her first mistake of the battle. Sean smirked in a similar manner and spared no time when he rushed in; he gave 7 body shots to Ayane's back, jabs and hooks with each blow giving off a thunderous impact against her body. Since it was taking her too long to rotate, she simply attempted to try to predict his attacks, but barely managed that. When Sean gave Ayane the sixth blow, she had recoiled and let out a gasp, holding her back while he crouched down and feinted. He came up, just as Ayane turned around and he punched her square in the chest with enough force to blow a hole in a titanium wall.

Sean held the pose of the punch for a moment before returning to his stance, and Ayane flew into the direction of Sean's punch.

Everyone in the stands winced in pain, save for Zell, who was just thinking about doing the same thing to her. Ayane flew into one of the support poled and dented it indefinitely. Her spine's imprint was clearly visible and she'd fallen out of the dent with a thud. There was a countdown.

"…10…9…8…"

Ayane struggled to stand, never expecting her back to be so vulnerable, and after only 7 hits, she was already breathing heavily.

Sean turned around to see the female tengu standing in a slouched position, and there was blood beginning to trail the corner of her soft lips.

"Oh? Well looks like you survived the beat combo. You won't be able to take it again though." Sean smirked as he drank in the pained expression Ayane had on her face.

Sean took a big step, cocked his left fist and swung a straight punch. Ayane simply moved her head away and spun around, slashing Sean's stomach with her fingernails. Sean recoiled and stepped back, allowing Ayane to spin on her left arm, swinging both of her legs across his abdomen, knocking his wind away. Sean gripped his stomach and received a corkscrew kick to his chest. Sean rolled into the support pole behind him and hit it with the front of his body, he was lined vertically with the pole for a brief moment, and then he was on his back with a blank expression on his face. Ayane leaped into the air, and stomped Sean in his stomach. Ayane flipped off him and landed on her feet.

Sean stood to his feet with little difficulty and charged at the female ninja. Sean jumped and punched the ground and caused a mini earthquake, and then he dashed at Ayane and bombarded her with more machine gun style punches, carefully avoiding her breasts, and pelted her upper chest with a barrage of 20 punches, then caught her with an uppercut. Ayane used the momentum from the punch and landed on the tip of one of the other support poles. She disappeared, and left a small flurry of purple petals. As the petals fell, she reappeared behind Sean and spun counterclockwise, moving backward slightly in the process, and then stomped, denting the ground where she stood, taking in a large surplus of purple energy and double palmed Sean.

Sean sensed her just after she stomped and received the full force of the attack into his ribs on the left side. At the same time, he'd focused enough energy to hit her with as well. The impact cracked a few ribs and a spurt of violet energy blasted through him on his opposite side and he skidded across the ring, gasping and clutching his ribs. Ayane took the hit from Sean, and didn't stagger, but two of her ribs had just been fractured as both fighters hits connected.

Sean dropped slowly to one knee, "Damn it… okay, you win…" he spoke between pained gasps of air.

"See? That's why I'm one of the strongest people here right now." Ayane spoke triumphantly and brushed her hair out of her eyes, hiding the pain of the fractures she'd just received, but it was apparent by her stance. She had a snarky remark ready, but she felt now wasn't the time to use it.

The referee raised a flag, "The winner – Ayane… Will the next two please approach the ring?"

Ayane stepped away from the ring, but she'd looked at Sean with fury, "You just got lucky, but next time won't be the same."

Sean stood and replied, "Yeah of course. I hope you're ready to be exorcised..." He smiled through the pain of broken ribs and Zell stepped forward to the now lightly damaged ring.

Zell passed Ayane, mumbling something to her, but she rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself protectively and went to sit next to her sister. Kasumi's maternal instincts kicked in, and she subconsciously looked over Ayane's body and noticed the odd shape under her breast. Ayane protested softly but gave in to her sister's gaze, knowing it would only make the injury worse to try and protest. Kasumi prepare a few hand signs and mended the broken ribs.

Zell turned around to hear the scolding that Kasumi was giving Ayane, but smirked and made a sound similar to a suffocated laugh. He almost immediately noticed that Kokoro was in a deep conversation with one of the newcomers. He sighed and returned to his seat, clearly ignoring the longing gaze that was sent his way by Ayane in an attempt to tune Kasumi's motherly intuition out. Ayane was too proud and Zell was too pissed off at the moment to say anything related to an apology.

When Zell sat down, he caught the end of the conversation between Kokoro and Akihiko.

Kokoro was dressed in her blue version of the Changshan and her waist-long hair worn loose, with a small segment tied to in a bobble up-front on the left-hand side.

Akihiko was very fit, his muscle tone was almost on par with Jann Lee. He has long orange hair that he keeps tied into a ponytail that falls just below his shoulders, and honey colored eyes that were gentle almost like Kasumi's eyes were. He was only a quarter head taller than her if they'd stood up. He was dressed in baggy jeans, a sports T-shirt and skate shoes.

Kokoro had a nervous tone about her as she spoke, "…B-but… Akihiko-kun…"

The boy cut her off, "I told you. It's Aki, for you, Koko-chan."

Kokoro blushed at the nickname, she was new to many things, and her Maiko training had been going on for a while, but she was unsure about the wager, "but… Aki-kun… I'm not so sure about this…"

Akihiko stayed persistent, "I promise nothing will happen if you make the bet… You won't regret it."

Kokoro hesitated a bit and mulled it over in her mind, "…okay Aki-kun. You're on."

The two waited on the announcement for the next pair to square off, and when the referee waved the white flag so the next two could engage.

Kokoro entered the ring and was folllowed by Akihiko. He spoke loudly to the specataors and to Kokoro, "I suggest wager. If I win, I get to take you on a date. Deal?" Akihiko offered his hand.

"I accept, but if I win… well… I'll have to see what I have in mind." Kokoro's grey eyes flickered with mischief.

The two bowed deeply from the waist at each other and Kokoro assumed her Ba Ji Quan stance, while Akihiko swayed back and forth and Zell immdeiately recognized the stance that Akihiko was using.

Zell crossed his arms and lowered his head in contemplation for a brief moment, "Hm, Capoeira… I wonder how well she'll hold up against that." He smirked and stole a look in Ayane's direction and noticed her glaring at him. He suppressed a sigh and cursed Maria for messing around via rolling his eyes.

Kokoro looked a bit surprised at first, seeing as she was expecting something different from the boy. The two had talked since they had arrived, but she'd never thought to ask what his style of fighting would be. Now she was faced with a style she really hadn't seen before.

"What's that you're using?" Kokoro asked but kept her eyes on Akihiko's swaying limbs, just in case he tried to attack while she spoke.

Akihiko smirked and replied, "Well, it's a style that originated in Brazil. It's called Capoeira. I hope you can keep up."

Kokoro stayed easy, but gave an inward sigh and thought, "I hope I can keep up too…"

The referee raised the flag from outside the ring and said, "You may begin."

Kokoro gave a large step forward and a short quick elbow aimed for Akihiko's chest, only for him to evade it with a twist to the side. He turned rather quickly to avoid the attack, and countered with a rotating high kick. Kokoro intercepted Akihiko's leg and pulled him to her, then battered him with three elbows and a palm strike. Akihiko skid back a little and adopted another stance that was unfamiliar to Kokoro.

She ignored her doubtful thoughts and charged again. She took another large step in hopes of rushing Akihiko into the corner, but he ran up the cage and flipped over the Japanese teen and gave her a powerful thrust kick from the air. The attack hit the Maiko square in her back and she hit the cage with her front and bounced off, stepping back and turning right into a grab from Akihiko.

Akihiko jumped and rotated so that he was facing the floor, in a position similar to a push-up. He tightened his feet's grip on Kokoro's head and flipped her forward and he did a front flip and landed on his feet and darted right behind her.

Kokoro sprawled toward the cage once again, but this time she regained herself and gripped the cage. She twisted herself and landed right before a running Akihiko. Kokoro crouched a bit and gave a shoulder to Akihiko's chest, knocking him back a few steps and releasing all of his wind. She followed up with a single palm strike to his chest and sent him back even more. Akihiko was on the border of being floored on his back. Kokoro took another large step and elbowed Akihiko with enough force to dent a refrigerator. Akihiko took the attack and flipped onto his feet once more. He charged at Kokoro and dropped to one arm and rotated his legs in a break dancing form. Akihiko swept Kokoro off her feet and knocked her skyward.

Akihiko finished the flashy combo attack with a single leg backwards flip and landed on his feet. He stood triumphantly as Kokoro hit the mat on her back with a hard thud. The countdown began after a few still moments, "10… 9… 8… 7… 6…"

Kokoro's eyes opened and she sat up while gripping her head, "Ow that hurt…" She stood to her feet and shook her head to free her vision of the flashing black spots that were beginning to take form before her.

Akihiko resumed his swaying stance and Kokoro blinked a few more times before she assumed her stance as well.

"_Okay, so he's pretty fast…and very flexible…"_ Kokoro sighed inwardly and watched Akihiko's movements carefully.

The young maiko took a large step toward him; he swayed down a bit further than before. She threw a straight elbow, but it missed and Akihiko countered with a backwards corkscrew flip kick. Kokoro was lifted a bit off of her feet, then he twisted and rotated with a powerful reverse roundhouse kick that sent the maiko spiraling. Kokoro skidded when she landed on her back, but quickly pushed herself off of the ground. Akihiko rushed her with a jumping bomb kick. Kokoro grabbed Akihiko's leg and elbowed it multiple times, then she thrust her free palm into his face and he rolled backwards.

Kokoro leapt into the air and landed on Akihiko with a thud. He let out a groan and the countdown began, "10… 9… 8… 7…"

Akihiko struggled to stand, but managed it anyway. He clutched his chest and gazed at her. Kokoro felt herself blush at the sight of his gaze. Akihiko slouched and was breathing heavily, Kokoro was as well, but she allowed her posture to hide her fatigue.

"…I quit…" Kokoro bowed from the waist and started to walk away.

The referee raised the flag, "Akihiko wins by forfeit."

Akihiko gasped, "What?"

Kokoro turned and winked to him, "I'll see you tonight, Aki-kun."

Akihiko smirked and returned to the waiting area. He did a fist pump as he sat down.

"Will the next combatants enter please?" the referee asked kindly.

Zell made his way to the ring and waited patiently.

Zell stood in the ring and heard the doors of the arena squeak open. All eyes turned to the guy that was walking in. The guy had a red jacket, long black hair and dark brown eyes. He was in a pair of black jeans and had white trainers on as well, he was holding a duffel bag and on his hip was a sheathed katana.

Zell folded his arms and looked at the newcomer. The referee approached him and asked his name to which he simply replied, "Kaneshiro Natsu." Then he looked at Zell who was awaiting his opponent.

The referee spoke, "Will someone please step forward to battle?"

There was another silence and stillness swept over the arena. Zell unfolded his arms and began to step away to the waiting area.

Natsu stepped toward the ring and tossed his bag to the waiting area, and Sean caught the bag, "I'll be your opponent… I hope you know that this won't be an easy win for you."

Zell stopped and returned to face his opponent, a faint smirk on his face, "I wouldn't want you to bow out too soon anyway, and I need something to relieve my stress. Make it good, okay?" Both fighters went to the center of the ring. He eased into his Tae Kwon Do stance and lightly tiptoed up and down.

Natsu gave a grunt and stomped, shaking the arena, not just the ring, but Sean, Zell, Ayane and Kasumi seemed unfazed by the act. He eased into his stance and shouted a battle cry. Zell smirked and the match began.

Zell started with a roundhouse aimed for Natsu's temple, Natsu ducked and took a big step forward and threw his elbow with so much force that the air whooshed in the same direction as him. Zell missed his attack, but predicted Natsu's attack; Zell side stepped and assumed the Flamingo stance, where one leg was bent and ready to attack. Zell spun and ducked to do a low sweep move, and Natsu gave a small hop over the attack, but before he could react, there was another roundhouse coming and it connected with his ribcage. Natsu took the blow and grabbed Zell's leg. He yanked Zell forward and gave a shoulder to Zell's chest three times, and on the third shoulder thrust, Zell slid back and was at a loss of breath.

Natsu followed up with a stomp to the ground and prepared a powerful shoulder jab, but Zell managed to react in the nick of time, using his Flamingo sidestep, and quickly spun and delivered a deft thrust snap kick to Natsu's side, which effectively got him to stagger. Zell followed the kick with three more kicks, a low, which aimed for the shin, a spin and a reverse roundhouse which connected and sent Natsu spiraling backwards for a second. Zell quickly stepped forward and cocked his left leg directly above his head and brought it down with the speed of a jet into a building. Natsu recovered himself just in time to feel a heated wind gust past him.

Natsu smirked, "You play Tae Kwon Do, do you not?"

Zell assumed his stance and nodded, "That I do. You play Ba Ji Quan, correct?"

Natsu nodded at Zell's inquiry and stated, "You're more fluent with your moves than most people that I've faced with that style…"

Zell smirked and gave a 'Hm' as a reply. The two combatants rushed each other again, and Zell attacked in a way that allowed him to sidestep should he miss an attack, which was happening a lot with Natsu. Natsu was not as fast, but he took the brunt of most of the kicks that were rained down on him, and managed a grab. He gave a deft elbow to Zell's abdomen and followed with another elbow, sliding Zell back a little for the next attack, which was Natsu's personal favorite, the palm thrust attack.

Zell recovered a little too late and was sent flying into one of the poles of the ring. Ayane and the rest of the spectators winced as they heard the pole get crushed by the force. There was a nice split on the opposite side of the pole and Natsu continued his assault of Zell. While Zell bounced forward from hitting the pole so bluntly, he leaned into yet another palm thrust. When the attack was given by Natsu, there was a whooshing of heated winds. Zell jumped over the attack and countered with a clean jumping roundhouse which sent Natsu back. Zell, still a little airborne, rotated with the momentum and used his other leg to deliver another clean hit and finished by raising his other leg as high as he could and brought it down hard on Natsu's stomach and sent Natsu crashing into the ring.

Natsu rolled forward and used that momentum to hit with an elbow to evade the coming kick from Zell and hit cleanly in Zell's stomach and rolled him backwards. Zell stood slowly and Natsu dashed up and gave two more knees to his stomach, causing Zell to stumble back more. Natsu stomped forward and gave a powerful palm to Zell's abdomen and sent him into the pole again and it cracked a bit more, Zell stumbled into another palm thrust and split the pole in two and it toppled like a tree in a forest and Zell dropped with a thud.

The referee froze at the display of brute power and almost froze for a moment before she started the countdown. "Uh… um… 10… 9…"

Zell rolled toward Natsu with the speed of a spin dash and gave an uppercut kick to Natsu, launching him in the air. Zell spun in reverse and kicked him back into the air and hopped to give himself a little leeway as he vertically corkscrewed into a spike kick to Natsu's ribcage and sent him plowing into the mat again. Natsu was dazed for a half a second before he rose again with the same vigor that Zell just had.

Natsu taunted Zell with the 'Bring it on' Hand. Zell blew a stray hair from his eyes and resumed his attack. Zell swept a leg and brought it up over his head and brought it down like a club and Natsu stumbled back. Zell got into his flamingo stance again and gave Natsu a five hit combo to his head. The kicks ended with a kick in the chin that knocked Natsu airborne, but with less height than before. Zell smashed Natsu back down with a double club followed by a reverse high kick which he brought down and hit Natsu square in his stomach.

Zell leapt back as he sensed a recovery attack. Natsu tried a deft sweep which would have been aimed for Zell's knee joint and would have possibly dislocated his knee. Zell stepped up and reverse roundhouse kicked Natsu, skinning his stomach and causing him to crumple slightly. Zell stepped forward and opened his posture for a second, charging his next attack. Natsu righted himself, only to be hit with several roundhouses to the face, and stomach, a flurry of thrust kicks to the chest and forehead and Zell continued the assault until Natsu was in the pole opposite of where he just was. Zell reared his leg back as much as he could and gave two clean critical thrust kicks into Natsu's chest. When the second kick connected, the pole behind Natsu actually crumbled into tiny pieces.

Natsu wasn't down just yet. He leaned forward and rushed Zell with a series of force blows consisting of quick palms and advancing elbow strikes. The counter combo brought the two back to the center of the ring and each of the spectators was on the edge of their seats. Zell was breathing heavily, and Natsu was slightly bleeding from his mouth and forehead.

The battle was at a standstill now. Both Combatants eyed each other fiercely, a battle of wills ensued for a moment, then at the same time both fighters reared back, Natsu taking a step back and prepared a powerful palm strike and Zell hopped back and prepared for a thrust kick that could destroy a skyscraper. When both hits connected, there was a burst of unnatural energy from both of them. Zell's ribs were grazed, and a snapping could be heard and at the same time Zell dislocated Natsu's shoulder, and broke the ribs immediately beneath the shoulder at the same time. Each combatant skidded back and they both folded and fell to the ground.

Ayane was captivated by the battle and she had to stop herself from jumping into the ring to see if Zell was still alive from that last attack. The referee was stunned as was everyone else who'd just witnessed the bout. The ten count went by faster than normal, and it was dubbed a tie match. Sean went into the ring to get Natsu, and Ayane went to get Zell. Ayane glared hell into Sean, to which he smiled and did the guillotine gesture, where a person runs their thumb across their neck, in response to the woman Tengu.

Ayane looked to Zell, who was on her shoulder as she dragged him to the waiting area, and she'd mumbled, "I'm sorry for how I acted earlier… you need to talk to me in private when we get back."

Zell managed a small laugh as he replied, "Of course… I'm sorry that my Superior is… such a …territorial bitch sometimes…"

Ayane suppressed a giggle and sat the tired boy's head on her chest when she got back to her seat.

Kasumi smiled to herself as she took in the sight just before she took to the remains of the ring, no one seemed to see that she had shook something off before she entered the ring however. Takashi sighed and sensed something was amiss, but continued anyway.

Kasumi bowed, "I won't go easy on you Taka-kun…"

Takashi nodded and bowed as well, "I wouldn't want you to, Kasu-chan."

The referee raised her flag, "You may begin."

Kasumi and Takashi stepped toward each other with a small sidestep. Kasumi rotated and gave a high roundhouse kick, aimed for Takashi's head, Takashi ducked the kick and responded with a sweep kick of his own. Kasumi predicted the attack and somersaulted over Takashi's leg and moved to his right side. Before Takashi could respond again, Kasumi assailed his abdomen with a series of five thrusts and spun like a top before she kicked his ankle from beneath him. Takashi fell to the ground, but rolled backwards as soon as he hit the ground. He charged at the former princess and the two began to trade blows, for each puck Takashi had landed, Kasumi would stagger back and answer with an acrobatic kick to get a bit of distance between them. Takashi rushed her for the fifteenth time in this manner, but when his attack connected, he'd rotated to avoid her kick, and he caught her from the air and flipped her down onto the mat. He grabbed the nuke-nin by her waist after flipping her into the air, and flipping multiple times and when he'd slammed her back on the mat, she'd rolled a few times before she landed on her face. She stood after a few seconds, having to gain herself again, but when she rose, there was an aura of pink petal swirling about her.

Ayane sensed the spike in her sister's energy and looked up, "What? Is this a side effect from the experiments or something?"

Zell's eyes shot open and despite his condition he stood without fail, his eyes weren't focused, but something forced his consciousness up, "She's awakened too?" Zell gripped his head briefly before he jumped in.

Kasumi charged at Takashi, her fingers arched in a manner meant to pierce, but hit the flesh of Zell's shoulder instead of Takashi's heart. The entire crowd gasped at the spectacle. Kasumi spun around and threw Zell at a speed that would have ripped a titanium wall in two, but Zell hit the cage and rolled to his feet, lining himself with it and kicked off of the cage and plowed into Kasumi once again, this time he's landed on her and she was immobilized. Zell used his index and middle fingers to his a pressure point in her neck and she dropped.

The referee called the match as a no count seeing as there was interference. Everyone else, save for Akihiko, had departed. Sean dragged Natsu away, and Kokoro looked back one time to survey whether or not to stay, which she'd just decided to leave.

Takashi and Ayane rushed to see what had happened, but Zell had dropped again as well.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 – Aftermath**

Maria slammed her hands onto the desk, shaking it and making a loud rumble erupt from her body and desk. "HE DID WHAT!?" Her voice was filled with rage and sadness at the same time. Her almond eyes held clear concern for what had just happened.

Ayane, Takashi, and Akihiko stood there with their heads down. Ayane spoke first, "He suffered a hit to his shoulder and…" the young kunoichi trembled and trailed off, slightly afraid of the Mugen Shadow's rage. It didn't take a genius to figure out when a person doesn't anger easily, they can bring the end of the world when they do.

Akihiko spoke up a little bit, "Kasumi looked like she'd infected him with something… a surge of pink energy was absorbed by his body. Then she flung him into the gates… and he'd knocked her out."

Maria huffed and eased into her seat and returned to her usual face, "Good job on the report Akihiko. Apparently, Zell called it right when he said to send you along as well."

Akihiko sighed, "He knew this was coming?" He dropped his head and put his palms on his forehead.

Takashi nodded, "Yep. We talked about it right before he went to the fight with that guy, Natsu. I sensed something in Kasumi snap, in fact, we both planned it… but He was supposed to fight Kasumi, not me."

Maria closed her eyes, a hefty silence hung over the teens and a long breath was drawn and released from Maria as the silence loomed. No one spoke for a moment. Maria opened her eyes and pulled her ponytail band out of her hair.

Maria's hair was long enough to drop to just beneath her shoulders. Her hair in the front stayed the same, it was parted on one side and a barrette helped to hold the hair in place. She twirled the ponytail holder on her index finger and tossed it to Ayane.

Ayane caught the tiny band and gave a confused look, "What am I supposed to do with this?"

Maria gave Ayane a look that said 'Are you stupid?' and replied, "Go down to the infirmary and put the band across his right wrist. He made that thing as a means of doing something for him… kinda like the gloves he wears now."

Ayane nodded and left the room. Maria turned to the two boys before her, "Akihiko, you've done your part; I'll contact you with your next assignment at a later time. You have leave for the day."

Akihiko nodded and left as well. This just left Takashi with Maria and he was a bit intimidated by her appearance, and a bit nervous as his first meeting with her began with her flaring in rage.

"Takashi, you're brother is stable. That's the good news, however, he won't be back in action for a while… that's another story that Zell's got more details on."

Takashi nodded and noticed Maria's gesture to sit down, which he promptly took and looked at her in silence.

"So, Takashi… Tell me what you saw happen with Kasumi and Zell, there might be something that I'm missing here…"

Meanwhile, Ayane opened the door to Zell's room in the infirmary, the room was large enough to hold four people and still comfortably keep the two beds separated. There was a pale blue curtain that was pulled in between the two beds. There was a shelf on one side of the bed and on the other side was a wooden oak chair with a cushion in it. Zell was in one bed and the curtain was pulled, only revealing a silhouette on the other side, judging by the way the chest was, Ayane deduced that the other form was female, possibly Kasumi.

Zell's body was crackling with red and black electricity, but Ayane sensed his energy was still deathly low. She couldn't help but give a hefty sigh as she took the seat beside his bed. His eyes were closed and he looked to be sleeping soundly, his shirt was gone and there was a bandage where Kasumi had pierced his shoulder. Ayane couldn't help but trace the lines of his firm, yet slim, eight-pack before she finished scanning his form.

She slowly and gently pressed the boy's chest then placed her head down and managed to hear a very faint heartbeat. She released a sigh of relief, but said nothing. She sat back normally and pulled Zell's wrist to her and slid the ponytail holder around his wrist like she was directed to do.

After a moment, the holder glowed with a blue light which faded quickly, then the electricity the jolting in Zell's body had subsided and he'd released a breath. Ayane nodded at what seemed to be a good omen and left the room. Just as the door had shut, Zell's wolf ears and tail had shown themselves once again.

Ayane made her way back to Maria's Office and tapped door several times.

"Come in." Maria's calm voice had returned, as did her demeanor.

Ayane entered the room and noticed that Takashi's head was hung and he gave a heavy, very disappointed sigh.

Ayane took a seat next to Takashi, "What's wrong with you? You look like someone just died."

Takashi brought his head up and opened his mouth, but Maria silenced him, "Leave it Takashi. Go on and head home. If anything changes with Kasumi or your brother, I'll be sure to give you a call. But for now, just get some rest and take in all that's happened today."

Takashi looked to Maria then to Ayane and huffed as he left the room.

"So, did you do as I instructed?" Maria asked, she peered into Ayane's eyes and Ayane returned the gesture as she nodded, both kunoichi noticed the concern for the boy in the other's eyes.

"Now tell me what you saw happen… Maybe I can deduce the situation a bit more and break it down to see what's going on…"

Ayane complied with the Superior's directions with a nod, "Well, after my battle, Akihiko wagered a bet against Kokoro." Ayane paused and Maria's face changed to one of surprise but went back to its usual immediately.

"Go on?"

"They fought for a bit. After that, Kokoro quit and Zell went against a guy named Natsu, and they fought to a draw. Kasumi and Takashi were doing their battle. Takashi slammed Kasumi in a wrestling move then... something happened. She lay limp on the ground for a second, and then pink petals began to emanate from around her. Zell was out cold at that time, and he'd suddenly forced himself into consciousness long enough to put Kasumi's rage away, after which, he'd collapsed again."

Maria closed her eyes and stood, her entire figure hugged and accented by the suit that she wore, the skirt of which had a rather large slit in it and revealed a large amount of her thigh and the top of her brown stockings. Ayane's eyes scanned the outfit briefly and couldn't help but say, "Where can I get one?"

Maria smirked and replied, "I'll have one tailored for you. You seem to be similar in size anyway. I'll have it by tomorrow." The two skilled kunoichi sensed a spike in energy and Maria looked at Ayane with seriousness.

"…You ready to do another Co-op?"

Ayane nodded slowly, "Yeah." The two females left the room and started toward the infirmary, only to find a semi-transformed Zell sitting up in the medical bed.

Ayane held her hand out behind her, ready to materialize her Aura Blade at a moment's notice; Maria had her arms folded and a strange expression on her face. Both females' faces were etched with concern nonetheless.

They waited for him to attack, but he did nothing but turn his head to them, "…She knows…"

Ayane looked confused and Maria cursed, "Damn! …So what are you suggesting?"

Zell stepped out of the bed and pulled a pink orb from his injured shoulder, his ears and tail disappeared, "I'll hold onto it until I think she's ready for it… that means that she'll have to take out an Alpha by herself… that might do the trick." He replaced the pink orb back into his shoulder and his ears and tail reappeared.

Ayane caught full view of the orb, it was as large as a basketball, and had pink flames within, the outer aura had tiny sakura petals falling like snow.

Maria asked the question before Ayane could open her mouth, "Are you sure that holding onto that energy won't upset your own?"

Zell shook his head, "I'm not too sure, but we can't let it stay out in the open and Kasumi is too fragile right now."

Maria huffed, "…Then we'll need to get one early…"

Ayane asked, "But how are we going to get an Alpha before the tournament?"

Ayane looked at Zell, she studied him a bit more intensely, and she'd noticed that his eyes were like a cold fire now. He was still the same, save for the fact that his hair had two furry spikes that resembled ears if one looked carefully. His hair and wolf fur was the same shade which made the disguise that much more interesting as it was hidden in plain sight.

Zell removed his right hand's glove and stared at the burnt flesh on it. "I wonder when this happened..."

Ayane impulsively took his hand and said, "I'll wrap it for you… Maria, I'm sure you don't mind?"

Maria smirked at the Lavender girl's enthusiasm, "Go ahead. I'm gonna get an Alpha… the latest one that bastard has cooked up. Make sure Kasumi is at 200 percent within the next 3 hours."

Zell gave a half smirk, "Understood."

Maria retreated to her room, not her office, her room which was an elegant combination of black and grey which gave the room a medieval feel. Her bed was designed like that of a princess's, four thin pillars held a thin silver veil into the air and draped it over the rather unnecessary queen-sized bed that was covered with black and grey sheets and a series of 10 pillows with varying black and grey individually as well as black and grey patterns in a pyramid shape. She went past the bed and went to her desk which was black oak with stainless steel legs. On the desk sat a flat screen computer with a slim CPU hard drive. She grabbed the rolling computer chair and sat down.

The Superior powered up her computer and clicked a few things, then began to type hastily, after a few silent moments of rushed typing she received a call on her wireless earpiece.

"Yes, what do you have to report Bronze Butterfly?"

The voice on the other end was female and responded, "I've gotten Donovan's latest shipment. I'll send it your way now."

Maria shook her head, "No, get a copy of it and send us the copy. I don't need that bastard trying to bomb my place to hell… It's too early for that. I might be gone so deliver it in person if you don't mind."

"Will do."

Maria pushed a tiny button on her earpiece and closed the transmission. She gave a heavy sigh. "So it seems that I'll need to get more back up for this… Donovan you sly dog…" a devious grin crept across her face.

Ayane was quiet as she tightly wrapped the gauze around Zell's right hand. There was something on her mind but she couldn't exactly find the words to ask, and something told her that now was not the best time.

Zell looked to Ayane and asked, "There's something wrong?"

Ayane had just finished tending his hand before she replied, "I just can shake the feeling that something bad might happen after the tournament…"

Zell clenched his right fist several times before he replied, "Sometimes, things happen that can't be controlled. I'm sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear, but it's the truth."

Ayane nodded, "I know, but…"

"No buts… think of it like this… Would you rather have your sister, or some guy who _**might**_ be able to make _**you**_ happy?" He gave slight emphasis on the words 'might' and 'you' as he spoke.

Ayane looked at him, her eyes gave away a sense of powerlessness, "Well, my sister, of course…"

Zell smirked and replied, "Then it's settled. I'll take care of her…"

Ayane jumped up, "What about you? You aren't in any condition to do anything really…"

Zell looked to the shapely teen and eyed her form carefully; her outfit was a dark purple short sleeved dress, a pair of fingerless fishnet gloves that went to her elbows, and striped purple and black stockings and a pair of sneakers. "I'm probably the only one on our side that can do anything at all."

Ayane said nothing at first, "…Can I sit on your lap?"

Zell simply said, "Sure. I'm already healed anyway."

Ayane almost asked why but quickly remembered that he had Time on his side. He stated once more, "There might be something that happens that might not be able to be changed…" this time his voice was more of a mumble as though he was telling this to himself.

Ayane stepped toward the Semi-transformed boy and turned so that her back was facing him, then she sat down. The faint scent of lavender crept into Zell's nose as she sat down gently on his lap. She leaned on his chest and wrapped her arms around him as well. He slung one arm around her and rubbed her gently.

"…I don't want anyone to die…" Ayane stated quietly, her eyes were fixed on something on the ground, but whatever it was wasn't important at the moment.

Zell said nothing; there wasn't much he'd be able to say at this point. He'd been having strange dreams that were almost like telling the future, and in each of them, he lost the young kunoichi to DOATEC's military forces, or the Alpha experiments. He just let out a sigh and closed his eyes slowly.

Ayane pushed him gently, as if she wanted him to lie down, to which he complied. He made a hand motion and a faint glow came from the female form on the other side of the curtain.

"So it was Nii-chan…" Ayane mused before she looked to Zell again.

"I think I just need some sleep… I was told that Onee-sama might lead an attack on the headquarters of DOATEC… That means I'll be fighting too. I hope I'll get to be beside you." Ayane yawned and adjusted herself. She turned a bit more and held her right hand closer to her mouth and looked to be drifting off a bit.

She continued to talk, but now in more of a whisper, "I'm really sorry about how I acted earlier too…"

Zell replied in a cool yet very warm and soft tone, "It's not an issue anymore. So there's no need to apologize."

Zell noticed hints of a smile coming across her face, but he was only able to see her cheeks as he stared down at her. Ayane didn't respond, so Zell assumed she'd fell asleep on him, but what he didn't know was that it was her turn to have a nightmare.

The dream started with Ayane and Hayate in the base of the DoATEC Tri-tower. She was finishing the technique known as the Art of the Raging Mountain God, but was riddled with bullets to her torso from assault rifles in the process. She'd released the attack, but was very badly wounded in the process. She stumbled forward by one step and turned slowly to Hayate who was standing right next to her, there was blood trailing down her lips and she was visibly drained from both being shot and using such a powerful attack happening at the exact same time. All of the soldiers were taken out, save for one was gravely wounded.

Ayane looked to Hayate with a pained expression; she gasped first then spoke slowly, "Onee-sama… You have to… make sure… that he…" She dropped to her knees and gasped again, but blood gurgled from her mouth followed by a violent cough.

Hayate couldn't hide his concern for his baby sister, the one who had seen so much despair and pain, she looked to him again, and he to her, but his gaze was averted when a plasma grenade stuck itself a few inches from Ayane's dying body.

"…Go…" Ayane managed to say before she fell forward.

Hayate reached his hand out to try to stop her from hitting the cold metal platform, but the explosion from the grenade sent Ayane's weak form careening into the air, and catapulted Hayate out of the area and into another location. Ayane's body broke the glass and continued skyward. The dying soldier stated, "That's for my comrades you ninja bitch…" then he dropped to the ground and died.

Zell was in the now crumbling tower and he felt the mini quake and trembling of the large tri-tower complex. His translucent green opponent had just dispersed and died, "That's one down… Six left." He hadn't broken a sweat but he let his guard down when another had tackled him into a pillar and shot a condensed burst of energy at point blank range, knocking him out of the facility. He was sent crashing through a window, but regained his body and released a burst of flames from his shoes and rocketed himself toward the second Alpha.

Zell tackled the Alpha and rolled with it. The two stopped and Zell was on top of it and gave it an explosive punch before it kicked him off. He landed easily on his feet and dodged the coming barrage of thrust styled attacks that were so obviously taken from Kasumi. The next wave of attacks was a flurry of kicks, which was dodged just as easily, but the last kick was caught by Zell and he countered with a kick of his own, except his was quick, powerful and augmented by his Zodiac powers. The kick gave an explosion and the Alpha fizzled into nothingness. Zell brushed his nose with his left arm and a figure caught his peripheral, and at the same time he spotted the lifeless body, his Superior called and four more Alphas burst from the floor below.

"Zell! Do you copy? Ayane was just injured, badly! You have to recover her body now! I don't want the bastard getting his hands on her! I just got word from Hayate, I can't get to her fast enough and you are right next to her." Maria's voice was almost drowned out by sounds of battle, gunfire, grunting and items breaking on her end.

Zell's eyes grew to the size of a full moon, and he turned to the Alphas who were just emerging. "Damn it… Ayane… no… You promised me…" Zell closed his eyes firmly and clenched his fist tight and yelled. The yell was combined with the sound of a howling wolf, then Zell's arms shot forward and two streams of black fire blazed to the four Alphas, but only hit one by grazing it. The Alphas dispersed and Zell replied, "Understood." His voice was even, and face was neutral but the tears were in his voice.

He turned 180 degrees and made a dash to the window where he'd saw her body. She was just hitting five floors away from his and he'd just jumped. He fired a flame from his hands to level his legs with the building and he made his dash. Ayane was no longer flipping, but was now facing the pursuing Zell. There were various explosions throughout the lower floors and Zell weaved effortlessly between them. He looked into Ayane's half open eyes, it looked like she was reaching for him, her blood was pouring and at the rate he was going, droplets from her chest and mouth were hitting his face, but he pressed on. He was steadily approaching her; he reached his hand out and kept telling himself, "Just a little more… I've got you… Please…"

Time seemed to slow for him, an explosion and a stream of fire brushed him, but he kept going, he was now only a foot and a half away from her body, then he was tackled off the building by an Alpha and held by his neck and he watched Ayane plummet from his grasp.

Zell cocked his fist back and a black flame surged, he released the punch and blasted the Alpha into the building and flipped twice then the black fire burst from his feet. It sounded like a bomb and he rocketed toward Ayane once more, this time almost breaking the sound barrier as he did.

There were three voices talking to Zell now, "Please recover my sister… please…" It was Kasumi.

The other, "My baby sister… I'm sorry…" Hayate, and lastly, "Zell you HAVE to get her!" The Superior, her voice was more frantic than demanding this time.

Zell's only reply was a grunt, "Hm." Then when he'd reached her, he grabbed her hand and flipped so that he was the one to hit the ground.

He landed with a cement crunching sound, and there was a small crater beneath him and the Tri-towers had been engulfed in flames. Zell looked at Ayane in his arms, her tears were red and her mouth was seeping blood on both corners. She was blinking, slowly but she was and it was very obvious she was in pain.

Zell pushed his Com, "Guys, I got her, but I don't think there's anything we can do for her… Regroup."

Ayane managed to move her left arm to turn his head to face her and he complied with what her eyes wanted from him; a kiss.

Zell felt her hand on his cheek and he leaned to her face and he kissed her gently. Just as he did, the remaining team members appeared, Hayate, Kasumi, and Maria. They all approached slowly and froze when they saw a tear streak down Zell's face.

Maria's eyes got wide, "No… That's never…"

Hayate kneeled slowly and looked on with teary eyes, mentally scolding himself and praying at the same time. Kasumi held her hands over each other on her breast and a very sad expression was on her face.

Ayane's hand finally went limp and dropped. Hayate punched the ground and Kasumi dropped her head with a tear falling from her cheek as she did.

When Ayane woke up from the nightmare, she was surprised to find Zell staring at her with concern on his face.

"Are you alright? What… happened?" Zell asked slowly, he was not sure of the severity of what happened, but Ayane could easily tell that her nightmare affected him too, seeing as her body seemed to react on its own while she was asleep.

"Nothing… Nothing…" was her response, She looked at his body and noticed that she'd gripped him tightly in her sleep, there were marks all over him.


End file.
